The Yellow Bird
by AnnoymousPoet
Summary: Regardless of who made it back first, the two survivors of the Queen's Gambit changed Starling City forever. Both were trapped on Lian Yu. Both thought the other dead. Both had promises to keep to those they lost. Both pushed through their inner darkness to become heroes. But when Sara returns before one of her crucibles, another awaits that she could never have predicted...
1. Chapter 1: 2009

**Hello. This is my first shot at an Arrow fanfic. Please enjoy.**

**And before anybody asks, there will be absolutely NO Olicity in this fic. There are enough of those stories already.**

Chapter 1: 2009

_"Tonight's top story: Sara Lance, a resident of Starling City has been found in the North China Sea after disappearing almost three years ago. The now 22-year-old vanished after going aboard the Queen's Gambit with Oliver Queen, the son of the CEO of Queen Consolidated, Robert Queen, both of whom remain missing and are presumed dead,"_

* * *

A girl of about twenty-two sat on the hospital bed, looking out into the Starling City skyline. Quentin exhaled, silently praying that this wasn't a dream.

"She was half-starved when they found her," the doctor had told him. "There's a high chance that she's suffering from PTSD. I should warn you, Detective Lance. The Sara you lost may not be the one they found,"

It had two years of agony, cursing the brat who had stolen both of his daughter's hearts, drinking to numb the pain, and pushing away the people who loved him. Dinah left him, and he was terrified of the day when Laurel would get fed up with his crap and leave him too. But there had always been that small, desperate hope in his heart. The hope that his little girl had made it out. And the hope that maybe, somehow, he could somehow go back to the way things used to be.

Slowly, he opened the door. It was almost impossible to find the strength to speak, but finally, shakily, he managed to whisper: "Sara?"

The girl turned her head, and instantly, he knew that the Sara he had lost had been the one they had found. "Daddy," she replied, giving a weak smile. Quentin wasn't very good with emotions, but with Sara, he could always tell. It was the first look he had ever seen in her eyes, the one he remembered from the day she was born, and the first time that he held her in his arms. It was the look in her eyes when she was scared, when she needed somebody to tell her that everything would be okay.

He ran to the bed and embraced her in the biggest hug he could give. Within the next heartbeat, she wrapped her arms around him too. And just like that day, she started to cry, and he held her as tight as he could, trying to soothe her. But soon, he couldn't contain the overwhelming wave of emotions that was surging up within him, and he broke down too.

"I missed you so much, baby," he whispered. "Oh, thank God,"

Other than the day his daughters were born, this was, without a doubt, the happiest day of his life.

* * *

**It's a start. You guys like this idea? Is there anything in particular you want to see out of this? Let me know in the reviews.**


	2. Chapter 2: Home

**Hey guys. Thanks for the reviews, I really appreciate it.**

Chapter 2: Sisters

Sara looked out at the Starling City skyline. She was finally back after two years in hell, but somehow, it felt different. Foreign almost.

She didn't deserve this. She had betrayed her sister in the worst way possible. She had tortured people, including the man she loved, for a psychopath. She had kept Oliver from telling Slade the truth. She should have let Oliver tell Slade...no. It should've been her with the bullet in her head. Instead, she was weak. She was selfish and afraid. She let Oliver choose her. And now, because of her, she was sure that he was dead. If Slade hadn't killed Oliver, then the tumbling wreckage from the Amazo certainly would have. It should have been her.

"Sara?"

Sara was shaken out of her thoughts_. _Praying silently that she wasn't finally going crazy, she slowly turned around to see her father. He looked a bit more unkempt, and a little heavier than she last remembered, but it was still him.

"Daddy," she whispered, giving her best attempt at a smile. She wouldn't be able to control the emotions that were surging up for much longer. Fortunately, her father wrapped her arms around her the microsecond before she lost control, and burst into tears. Before long, her dad was weeping along with her, although it was certainly for different reasons.

"I missed you so much, baby. Oh, thank God,"

Sara savored every second of love that her father gave her, because if he knew what she had done, all that love would turn to shame. Nobody would love her if they knew what she had done.

* * *

"So, what do you think?"

Laurel grinned. "I'll consider it," was her response to Joanna, although in her mind she had already decided. "Thanks for the chance,"

"Hey, anything for a friend," Joanna had been a senior when Laurel first entered law school, and she had been a source of guidance through all the rough patches, which there had been a lot of in the past few years. She had been generous enough to ask her law firm to approach Laurel for an internship. CNRI looked like a great opportunity to help some people that really needed representation from all the corporate. Joanna had been Besides, it would be better to stay in Starling, where her dad needed her, instead of some corporate place in California. She was about to walk out until she heard the news.

_"-vanished after going aboard the Queen's Gambit with Oli-"_

Laurel whizzed back to get a better look at the TV. Joanna looked confused until she saw the pictures on the screen. "Oh my gosh. Isn't that your sister? Laurel?"

But Joanna's question seemed a thousand miles away. Laurel waited for a few more seconds before bolting out of the door.

* * *

Quentin would have hugged his daughter all night, but he could tell that she was dead tired and needed some sleep. He was about to walk out when Sara asked him the question that he had been dreading. "Where's Mom?"

He was hoping that she didn't notice his grimace. It had been a year and a half since Dinah had left, and he hadn't talked to her since then. He had ignored all her calls. He didn't even know where the hell she was. He had hoped to never see her again. But he couldn't let Sara know that. Not yet. "Uh..." he desperately searched for an answer. "She's on the way." his pager beeped. "Sorry, I gotta take this. I'll see you tomorrow, I promise. Get some rest, okay?"

"Kay. Night, daddy,"

For a moment, she was five years old again. "Goodnight, sweetheart,"

Slowly, he closed the door behind him and ran his hands through his hair. This was not going to be easy. When he looked, his older daughter was standing right in front of him.

"How is she? You look worried," Laurel asked, clearly nervous.

"She's fine, just a little tired," he replied. "I could use a drink right about now,"

That last part came out louder than he was anticipating.

"Really, Dad? Really?" Laurel asked with a scolding tone. Sometimes she was more like his mother than his daughter. "You're going to go get drunk like nothing's happened. Have you already forgotten than she's-"

"No!" he snapped, before sighing. "I just said I could...use one," Yeah, that sounded better in his head. "Look, I gotta head out. Why don't you go check on her sister? She probably misses you,"

"Dad, what's going on?" Laurel asked, indicating that Quentin was failing miserably at trying to act casual. He sighed.

"Damnit Laurel, how are we gonna tell her about...you know...me and your mother?" he said. His daughter tensed immediately. For a moment, both of them were silent. She was the first to speak.

"We need to let her know," she said, almost whispering. "Sooner better than later," He groaned. As much as he hated it, she was right.

"Yeah, just..." he exhaled. "Don't tell her yet, okay? If anybody should tell her, it should be either me or your mother. Promise?"

Laurel looked a little bit annoyed, but nodded. "I promise."

* * *

Dad smiled before running off to who knows where. If he decided to head out to another bar, Laurel was going to knock out all his teeth.

As much as she happy and relieved to know that Sara was alive and safe, Laurel was still...nervous about seeing her sister again. Part of her wanted to be angry for screwing her boyfriend, but she tried to push that aside. _She just fell under Oliver's spell_, she told herself. _Oliver brought her aboard the ship. If it wasn't for him, then none of this mess would've happened_.

Even though it was true, Laurel still felt a little sick every time that she had forced herself to believe that during the last two-and-a-half years. Oliver had hurt her before so many times before, and cheating on her with her own sister was the worst thing he could have possibly done. But as hard as she tried to hate him for what he had done..she still wished that he had been found too.

_Knock it off_, her brain reminded her. _This isn't about Oliver, this is about your sister. _And she agreed with herself. It had been two years too long since she had last seen Sara. But there was something that needed to be done first.

She pulled out her phone and hit a number that had been gathering virtual dust. Slowly, she put it to her ear.

* * *

Sara was on _The Amazo_ again. Wreckage was scattered on the ground, and the ground was at an angle, which meant that the ship was sinking.

"Sara..."

She looked around frantically until finally, she saw a crumpled body lying thirty feet away from her. A dark hand clenched her heart. "Oliver!"

She ran towards him, but a dark figure grabbed him by the neck and threw him against the wall. He gasped for breath until there was a sickening _crack, _and his body went limp. Sara screamed as he fell onto the floor in a heap. The figure turned around, and Sara trembled as Slade Wilson started to slowly walk towards her.

"Well, look who decided to come back for more," he said with a demonic grin, blood dripping from his eyes. "Ivo's little bitch."

The next second, a superhuman force threw her to the ground. "This is all your fault, you know," he said, his face now filled with rage. Mirakuru rage. "Shado would be alive if it weren't for you. Oliver wouldn't have had to die if it weren't for you. It should've been you,"

She scrambled to her feet. "You knew that I'd you two on this ship. Both you and Oliver could be alive right now if only you'd made him realize how pointless it was to try and save me. Too late now,"

Slade reached for her neck, but as he clenched her throat, his face changed.

"Rose Jacobson's boyfriend wasn't for you?" Laurel screamed at her. "So you had to go and screw my boyfriend?!"

Sara wanted to cry. "Laurel, please,"

"I trusted you! What kind of sister betrays her family like that?! You wanted to take him away from me? Are you happy now?!"

"I-"

"It's all about you, isn't it? Nothing's ever good enough for you, right Sara?"

The grip tightened, and Sara's vision started to get blurry.

_"Sara,"_

Another voice was talking, but it sounded far away.

"SARA!"

A hand grabbed her shoulder. Instinctively, she grabbed the arm it was connected to and twisted it, sending the person spiraling to the ground. She blinked, looking to see who it was. _Laurel_.

Suddenly, she realized what she had done. She tried to scramble away, falling out of the hospital bed and onto the floor. She felt damp, like she was covered in sweat. Laurel ran over to her side.

"I'm sorry," she whimpered. "I'm so sorry, Laurel,"

"It's alright," another voice said. Sara looked up into the face of her mother. "You're alright."

She leaned down and embraced her daughter. "I knew you'd be alright,"

Sara looked over at Laurel, who smiled. "We're here, Sara. It's okay,"

* * *

**Thank you for all those who reviewed. I really appreciate it. It's getting off to a bit of a slow start, I know, but finals are coming up, so I'm a little busy.**

**Please leave your thoughts on this story. Expect the next chapter by May. Anybody else looking forward to the Season 3 finale? I know I am!**


	3. Chapter 3: Unfinished Business

**Hey guys. Like I said, just in time for May.  
****Anybody who's going to school right now will know that it's really getting busy with finals, so it may be a while until Chapter 4 comes up. In the meantime, who else is looking forward to the Season 3 finale?**

Chapter 3: Unfinished Business

* * *

"She did WHAT?"

Dad was a bit shocked to hear what had happened at the hospital, to say the least. Well, at least Mom was in the bathroom instead of the hallway with them. Heaven knows that it had taken Laurel all of her restraint to hold back. She didn't dare to think how long it would take before Dad would snap. Both of them were already exhausted after having gotten almost no sleep during the night.

"I said, she fli-"

"I heard you the first time, Laurel!" he snapped, before rubbing his temples. "What the hell happened to her on that island?"

Laurel shuddered. She remembered watching Sara thrash about in her sleep.

* * *

_12 hours earlier..._

* * *

_Laurel put the phone to her ear. "Hello, Laurel,"_

_She turned around to see her mother standing there, looking like she had just gotten off of work. "Mom," she said simply. Mom seemed hesitant, as if she was worried that a bomb would go off if she stepped any closer to her own daughter. Laurel set her phone down slowly._

_"Well...you came quick," she said awkwardly. Mom smiled nervously at that._

_"A mother always knows," she replied, before giving a warm smile of joy. "I knew that she'd come home. I just knew it, Laurel!"_

That's no excuse to leave Dad in his time of need,_ Laurel thought, but she refrained from saying that. She wasn't a lawyer quite yet, although this was probably what handling a case felt like. Every word had to be carefully planned, because one wrong word and everything went against you. Laurel wanted to let it all go, to release the year of anger and loneliness that she had felt. Your sister sleeping with your boyfriend is one thing. Having your mother abandon you and your father during your crucibles was something else. But as much as she wanted to scream, Laurel knew that she had to put her hurt aside. For Sara's sake._

_Laurel also knew that she had to get it out of the way before it came up. The big d-word. For Sara's sake._

_"Mom," she started. "Dad just left a few minutes ago. Sooner or later...we're going to have to tell Sara about...you-know-what," As she expected, her mother's smile turned into a cringe._

_"Laurel, I'm sorry, but I just-"_

_"You don't have to say anything," Laurel said. "We both know why," Of course, that didn't mean that she agreed with the reasoning in any way. She tried to return the smile. "How about we go have a family reunion?"  
_

_"Absolutely," And then the two walked in to Sara in a nightmare._

* * *

"She was tossing and turning like a house in a tornado. And the worst part was...she...she kept saying my name, as if she was begging me for mercy,"

That made Quentin's blood run cold. The doctor had mentioned something about PTSD, but he had prayed that it was just a "might be". That hope had just been extinguished. And it made him feel even worse that she was coming back to a broken home. His little girl didn't need that kind of stress.

"Sweet mother of..." he whispered. "I don't even want to think about what happened to her,"

Laurel nodded. "She must have been so strong to get through that,"

That made Quentin feel a little better. "Well, at least she doesn't have to beg the real you for mercy, right?" he joked, which his daughter certainly did not find funny.

"Sorry. Look, how about we all go over to my place for brunch and tell her? It's been awhile since we've had a family meal," _There still might be a sappy romantic left inside this grumpy alcoholic detective,_ he thought to himself.

Laurel gave a half-smile. "That'd be nice."

He returned the smile. He definitely felt like half-smiling, because he had just gotten a tough case last night. Break-in and homicide. Victim: Michael Staton.

* * *

Sara sat in her bed, holding the picture in her hand. It was torn and pretty weathered, but she could still make out the image just fine.

_I know you don't know you, and I know you don't know me. But please, make sure my daughter's okay._

Those were his last words. And the last thing that he ever heard was her promise to find his daughter and make sure she was okay. And now that Sara was back, she had no idea where his daughter was or how to find her. But she knew that she had to fulfill that promise, no matter what it took.

Something out of the corner of her eye caught her attention. Forcing herself to turn her gaze from the photo, she looked over to the window and saw what looked like a traffic jam at the front of the hotel. A lot of the vehicles were square trucks, but they definitely weren't ambulances. Being on the sixth floor of the hospital, it was hard to tell what the logo was on the side of one of them, but it looked familiar. Sara squinted harder.

_Channel 52._

The news? Why would they...Sara silently groaned. They were probably here for an exclusive interview, the last thing that she needed right now. She looked at the bathroom, which was still occupied by Mom. She grabbed her mom's phone and her own Starling City Rockets cap before quietly sneaking out of her room.

_Sorry Mom_, she thought. _I have some things I need to take care of._

* * *

**I'm feeling a little bit off on this chapter, but it's intended to be a bit of a transition. Hopefully you guys like it.**

**Oh, BTW, there are two Easter Eggs in this chapter. Tell me what you think they are. Also, leave me some feedback in the comments section. The fewer reviews I get, the longer it'll take for me to update.**


	4. Chapter 4: Rebirth

**Hey guys. Thanks for the reviews and positive feedback, I really appreciate it. I was doing some messaging to give some responses, but I figured that it would be better to post them up here for everybody to see.**

**Chapter 2:**

***highlander348: All in due time.  
*CharmedNightSkye: No, it's not weird. Nyssa's an interesting character. The question is how to integrate her into this specific universe.  
*Guest: Maybe he is, maybe he isn't. **

**Chapter 3:**

***highlander348: You'll see ;).  
**

**Hope you guys enjoy this.**

Chapter 4: Rebirth

* * *

After a long night without getting any sleep or booze, the last thing Quentin needed was a swarm of news reporters.

He and Laurel were walking back from the hospital cafeteria when they literally ran into Dinah. After the brief second of confusion, it became very clear that his ex-wife was in a state of panic.

"Quentin, where's Sara?" she demanded.

"I thought she was with you," Quentin replied, his confusion quickly turning into dread.

Dinah started to hyperventilate and mutter something in Greek that probably meant something like "Oh-no-God-please-help-me," Somehow, Laurel seemed calm and composed. Looks like law school was actually paying off.

"Mom, slow down," she said. "What's going on?"

Dinah exhaled. "I went to the bathroom for a minute, and when I came back, she was gone. And her Rockets cap is missing!"

Quentin tried not to panic; it was probably no big deal. Still, as a cop you needed to be ready for Murphy's law.

"Okay, I'll go talk to the hospital staff and ask them where she went. In the meantime, you two-" and he never got to finish that sentence. Suddenly, the elevator door opened again, and out swarmed about twenty people with microphones and video cameras.

"There they are!" one of them said, and suddenly all of them came straight towards the Lance family.

"Mr. Lance, could you tell us about how you felt when you found out your daughter returned?"  
"Ms. Lance, how was it to see your sister after she disappeared while having an affair with your boyfriend-"  
"Is your daughter suffering from any form of-"

"ENOUGH!" Laurel snapped, silencing about half of the reporters. Quentin decided to follow suit and grabbed one of the microphones. "I have an announcement to make: the next self-righteous jackass who asks us another stupid question will be arrested for disruption of the peace and violating hospital laws. Am I clear?"

Everybody's mouth's clamped shut. Quentin was sure that he was dreaming at this point, but he wanted to be sure.

* * *

Phones had really changed since Sara had left.

She spent about 5 minutes just fiddling around with it, trying to figure out how to use it. At first she was happy that there was an Internet feature, but unfortunately she couldn't find anything about Cindy or her father. All that came up were news articles like "Emilio Earhart" or "Starling Pilot Missing". Now she knew what the term "lame-stream media" meant.

After nearly throwing the phone away in frustration, she remembered that the driver's license in his wallet also had his address, which was what brought her to the Glades. It had been seven months, so Sara very much doubted that Cindy would still be at that house, but it was the closest thing she had. And if it was in the Glades, chances are she was still in the Glades.

* * *

_Knock-knock._

She didn't answer. Either it was CPS or some of those realtors who had been trying to kick her out for the last five months. She didn't know why they even bothered. Who in their right mind would buy a house in the Glades?

_Knock-knock._

It didn't matter. She quietly grabbed the kitchen knife and slowly creeped towards the doorway. She heard footsteps...getting fainter and fainter. Daring to take a peek out the window, she saw somebody walking away from the door, but it wasn't like what she was expecting.

There was no car outfront. The person who she assumed was walking away from the house couldn't be too much older than her. Twenty-five at the oldest. Blonde hair reached slightly past her shoulders, underneath a black sports cap. Usually the CPS wasn't that discrete. She couldn't help herself. Slowly, she walked to the back door and snuck around, trying to follow the girl at a distance. _Curiosity killed the cat,_ she told herself.

* * *

Great. Now she had no idea how to find her.

And now she had just left the hospital for nothing. Her family was probably freaking out back there. Sara reached for her Mom's phone in her pocket, but suddenly she stopped. It was probably nothing, but training with Ivo for a year (as well as being on a prison ship with bloodthirsty and extremely horny guards) had sharpened her senses, and she had the feeling that somebody was following her.

She doubted that somebody would be stupid enough to try and rape her in the middle of the sidewalk, but even so, she walked a little bit closer to the road.

* * *

The woman stopped. She looked around slightly before continuing on. Sin cursed silently. She thought that she was doing well. Whatever.

She started following again, this time from a distance. The woman didn't seem to notice. Slowly, Sin started to walk closer. Just to be safe, she tucked away behind an alleyway.

That was a mistake. Suddenly, a hand clasped over her mouth.

"Aw, fresh meat. I didn't know you could get it so early," somebody snarled into her ear.

* * *

Sara stopped.

Something felt...off. She listened closer, and she heard what sounded muffled screams...and a snarl. She had a feeling that somebody was following her, but it looked like he had changed targets.

For a brief second, Sara just wanted to run away as fast as she could. But her mind flashed back to being on the _Amazo_ again. She remembered how terrified she was, how vulnerable she felt. She had to become something else to even survive. She realized that the girl who was being mugged, or worse, felt the same way.

She turned around and ran to where she heard the noise. Slowly, she turned the corner into an alley.

A man of about thirty was holding a girl behind the neck, about ready to either rape her or skin her alive. Sara felt rage surge through her body. The girl was barely a teenager.

Another man stepped out of the shadows, with a devilish grin on his face. "Nice catch,"

_Patience, _Sara reminded herself. _Wait for an opportunity._

"So, am I in now?" the first one said. The second guy shook his head. "You gotta actually do it first, kid. Brick likes someone with guts,"

Out of the corner of her eye, Sara noticed a small metal pipe about five feet away. Hoping that they wouldn't notice her, she leaned over to grab it.

"Gladly."

_Ready..._

"Let me go, you bastard!"

_Aim..._

"Shut it, bitch, or I'll do a lot more than-"

_Fire._ With deadly accuracy, Sara flung the pipe at the first one. It hit him in the back of the head, and he fell over on the ground. Both the girl and the second guy stood in shock for a brief second before turning their heads. Sara was intending to use the element of surprise, but the moment that she saw the girl's face, and she was thrown off guard. Unfortunately, the other guy used that to get the advantage, and pulled a gun out of his pocket and pointed it at her. She could smell the tobacco from his breath as he walked closer.

"Here's a little lesson for you. Trying to play the hero is stupid,"

* * *

Sin wasn't sure what to expect.

First of all, the woman she had been following knocked out a guy that was trying to rape her. Now, that woman was in her shoes. The two guys just saw her as initiation into Brick's gang. One girl was as good as another to them. Pigs.

The woman didn't look too intimidated, which was weird given that there was a gun pointed in her face. She looked over at her. "Run,"

"But-"

"Shut it, ya little bitch!" the guy hissed. "Get the hell outta 'ere, and if you tell anyone, I'll-" he didn't get to finish. In the few seconds he turned his head away, the woman grabbed his arm and flipped him onto the ground. He shot his gun, but all he managed to shoot at was a garbage can. The woman ripped the gun out of his hands and knocked him out cold with it. All without breaking a sweat.

Holy shit.

The woman looked up at her. "Did they hurt you?"

Okay, who was this chick? And why did she care so much about her?

"N-No," Sin replied nervously. "Uh...thanks," she started to run away, but the woman grabbed her arm.

"Cindy, right?"

Great. Of course it was CPS. "Are you going to take me to a foster home?"

The woman shook her head. "Do you have a place where we could talk in private?"

* * *

A few minutes later, they were back at the house.

Cindy pulled a soda out of the fridge and tossed it to her before grabbing one for herself. "Sorry it's warm, but I can't really pay electric,"

Sara opened the can and took one long swig. Warm or not, it had been two years since she had drank a Pepsi.

"Thanks," she said. "Did they hurt you?"

The girl didn't say anything for a minute. "No, but they were about to. Thanks again,"

Sara smiled back. "No woman should ever have to suffer by the hands of a man,"

Cindy smirked. "Well, I'm only 13, but thanks." There was a moment of awkward silence. "I saw you come up earlier. Why were you looking for me?"

Sara sighed. This was not going to be easy to explain. But she deserved to know.

"Cindy..." she started. "Your dad..."

The girl gazed more intensely at her, as if warning her about what she said. "What about my dad?"

"His plane crashed on the island I was on."

* * *

"His plane crashed on the island I was on."

It took Sin a minute to understand that. "What do you mean, the island you were on?"

The woman looked in another direction as if the memory was painful. The look in her eyes reminded Sin of her grandpa when she used to ask him about the Vietnam War. It reminded her of about half of the people in the Glades. It was the look of somebody who had been from hell and back.

"I was...I was on a boat, and it went down in a storm. I got stranded in the North China Sea for 2 years,"

It felt entirely too cliché to say _I'm sorry,_ so Sin settled for: "That sucks,"

"Understatement of the century," the woman replied. "About 8 months ago, a plane flew over the island. Low enough to notice u...me. I tried calling for it to help, but then...something shot it out of the air,"

Sin let that sink in. "So...my dad is...you know,"

The woman only nodded. Sin didn't want to start crying, especially not in front of a stranger, but the urge was coming quicker than she could prepare herself for. She watched the woman pull something that looked like a folded piece of paper out of her pocket.

"He survived the crash, but...he knew that there was nothing we could do," the woman continued. "The first thing he did was tell me to grab this out of his wallet,"

She offered it to Sin. The girl shakily accepted the paper and opened it up. The urge to cry got even harder to control.

It was the picture that he had taken of her at the game a year and a half ago for her eleventh birthday. It was the first baseball game she had ever gone to. Money had always been tight, with a single dad and a tough job, but the two had always been able to pull through. It was just the two of them, caring for each other.

And now he was gone. And she was truly alone.

"He knew that he didn't know me, but his last words were asking me to make sure that you were going to be okay."

It was too much. Sin broke down, letting all of the pain and anger she had been building up over the past seven months go. In her darkest, most hopeless moments, she had cursed her dad, screaming to the streets and demanding to know why he had left her. And his last words were about her instead of him. He had given everything he had for her, and she had called him a deadbeat. The guilt hit her like a bulldozer.

The woman looked down.

* * *

Sara wanted to wrap her arms around Cindy and give her a hug, but she had a feeling that Cindy preferred to have her space.

"I'm sorry," she managed to say. She knew it was wasn't much, but she didn't know what else to do. Cindy tried to get her composure back, but it took her about 5 minutes to get ahold of herself. "Don't be," she said finally. "After so long, I'm just...I'm just glad to find out what happened to my dad. And that he didn't leave me on purpose, unlike everybody else in my life. Thanks,"

It sounded truly sincere. Sara nodded. "It was the least that I could do,"

Sin smiled back, although her eyes were still a bit teary. "Hey, did I ever get your name, blondie?"

Sara stretched out her hand. "Sara Lance,"

Sin returned the gesture and shook her hand firmly. "Call me Sin,"

"Nice to meet you, Sin," Sara replied. "Hey, if there's anything you ever need...just let me know,"

* * *

"Anything?"

Dad shook his head. "Nothing. They've looked everywhere, but there's no sign of her in the building. And nobody saw her leave." He grabbed his head. "I need an aspirin or something,"

"I've got some in my purse," Mom replied. Dad looked ready to say _I don't want anything from you, bitch_, but before he did, Mom started looking frantically around.

"Where's my phone?"

"Right here," everybody turned to see Sara standing behind them, holding Mom's phone in her hand. "Sorry. I went out for a little bit when I saw the reporters through the window. Long story,"

"And hour and a half long, to be precise," Laurel replied. "Don't do that again!"

She tried to sound angry, but she was truly relieved that her sister was alright. They were all worried that they had lost her again. Still, it came out harsher than she was hoping for. Sara looked down at the ground.

"I'm sorry, Sara. We were just worried,"

"No, it's fine. I should have called you guys. That's why I borrowed Mom's phone,"

"Borrowed. Right," Dad replied. "Sara Lance, you have the right to remain silent and to an attorney."

Everybody chuckled a bit after that. Laurel smiled, but wondered how long the happy family would last.

* * *

Sin sat on the couch, thinking about what had happened this morning.

Part of her doubted that the whole experience was real. It was too ridiculous to be true. But no matter how many times she pinched herself, the picture from her dad's wallet was still there, and the date on the back was still in his handwriting. She tucked it into her denim jacket pocket. Now, even though he wasn't there with her, they would still be together, no matter what.

Sara had left an hour ago. Sin was a little bit jealous that she had a family to go back to, but she couldn't hold that against her. After all, if it wasn't for her, she'd be either dead or worse. Brick was notorious in the Glades for his initiation "tests".

For the first time in almost seven months, Sin felt something that she thought she'd never feel again. She felt hope. And that if one person truly cared for her enough to save her life, even without knowing her or who she was, then so could she.

_"If you ever need anything...just let me know,"_

Sara's words echoed in her mind. Sin looked through the window, out into the hell that she called home. The only colors were grey, dark grey, and brown. Honest beggars sat right next to drug dealers sealing spearmint instead of marijuana on the sidewalk. The smell of industrial production and grime.

An idea started to form in Sin's head, and as much as she doubted that it would actually work, she didn't see why not.

* * *

**Thanks again for all of the feedback and support. I'm not too sure about how this chapter turned out, but school's been really really busy, and my brain feels fried. It will be a while until Chapter 5 comes out, but I will make sure that it will be the best one yet.**

**I know it's a bit of a slow start, but I want to make sure that all of the pieces fall into play like I want to. This is the longest chapter so far, but I plan for Chapter 5 to be even longer.**

**Anyways, please show that you care by giving me your reviews. Tell me your honest thoughts on the story, things you liked, things you didn't, things you want to see moving forward, anything you want! I'll do my best to listen and adjust.**


	5. Chapter 5: Home

**Hey guys. Thank you all so much for your reviews and feedback. It looks like I got a lot of requests for a few key things. And don't worry, I've been listening. All will happen in due time. Sorry for the delay, but between school ending and being out of the country for 2 weeks (long story), I've been a bit busy.**

**The pace will be picking up soon. And as promised, this is the longest chapter yet.**

Chapter 5: Home

* * *

_"Home is a battlefield. Back home, they're all trying to get you. Get you to open up, be something you're not sure you are anymore."_

_-John Diggle_

* * *

"I just hope you don't feel like you're responsible in any way, because you're not. This was on me,"

Dinah couldn't bring herself to look her ex-husband or either of her daughter in the eyes. She had never told Quentin that she knew about Sara sneaking aboard, and for the past two years she had lived with the guilt of not saving her daughter. And now that Sara was alive, she had been expecting that guilt to go away. But it didn't.

She should have simply told Sara that she shouldn't betray her sister like that. She should have been the one who told Quentin and Laurel instead of Moira Queen. She should have been there for Quentin in his time of need. She should have been there for Laurel, who was going through the roughest part of her life. At every option that she was given since that point, she had made the wrong choice.

Laurel was only tolerating her for Sara's sake. Dinah sensed that the moment that they saw each other again. Not that she could blame Laurel, but it certainly didn't make it feel any better. But what made the guilt worse was that she knew that something horrible happened to Sara during those two years.

The doctor told her that a group of fishermen had found her on an island in the North China Sea, but being stranded on an island doesn't explain running off from paparazzi or instinctively flipping somebody over when they grab your shoulder. The only thing that Dinah knew was that it would be a while before Sara was ready to share her struggles with anybody.

* * *

Sooner rather than later. Didn't make it any more fun, but Laurel was right. And it definitely hurt Quentin's ego to admit that his daughter was more reasonable than both of her parents.

He tried to change the subject. "Hey, they're almost done checking you out. Anybody else hungry?"

Laurel looked at him like he was either drunk or crazy, but Sara grinned. "As long as it's not hospital food, I'm starving,"

He smiled back. Partly because she was right (how could any of that food be qualified as healthy?) and partly because it was good to see her smile. The Sara he remembered was still in there somewhere.

Laurel looked at her phone, then got up. "I gotta go use the little girl's room. Be right back,"

* * *

If going to use the girl's room meant going right outside the hospital room to speak to the second-last person that Dad wanted to see, then Laurel was being completely honest. Because standing in front of her was Tommy Merlyn, with a bouquet of flowers and a "Welcome Back" card.

"I figured it would be a bad idea to barge in," Tommy started.

"That's one of the wisest things you've ever said," Laurel quipped, with prompted him to roll his eyes. "Thanks for the flowers, though,"

"It's the least I could do," he said with a shrug. "How's Sara doing?"

Laurel wasn't quite sure how to answer that. A few seconds of silence passed before she finally said. "Alright. She just needs some time,"

"Good to hear," Tommy replied, but his eyes suggested otherwise. Laurel had a pretty good idea of what he was going to say before he even started to open his mouth.

"Has she said anything about what happened?"

"No, and now is not the time to ask her," she answered almost immediately after. Tommy looked like he had been expecting that. "I'm sorry, Laurel, it's just..."

"I get it. You want to know what happened to your best friend," Laurel said tightly.

Tommy started to say something else, but decided not to. Laurel thanked him for the flowers as she walked back. It didn't make it any less awkward.

* * *

Tommy felt like a total idiot.

He could tell from a mile away that it was never going to work. It was the stupidest thing he could have possibly done. And yet, he couldn't stop himself from doing it.

He needed something. _Something_. Any form of an answer to the question of what happened to either of the missing Queens. It wasn't just for him. It was for the two Queen women. Especially for Thea. There was more than once in the past few months that Tommy had seen the youngest Queen do things that he and Oliver had never dared to do. Sure, they partied, but not with the sort of things that she did, or with the people. He had a strong feeling it was to fill the void. The void that could only be left by losing a cornerstone of your life. Tommy had experience with that. Once with losing his mother, and again with half-losing his father. The only difference was that his dad was still alive.

Tommy was aware that he was a pig. He wasn't willing to change that yet. But he had a duty to his best friend to keep his sister from doing down the same path.

It happened on the cab ride back home. He pulled out his phone to check his emails. He scrolled through lazily until something caught his eye. Could it...no, he must have misread it. But sure enough, it was there, right in front of him.

Somebody had logged into Oliver's email account. Which could only mean one thing.

* * *

The joy of a home-cooked meal was indescribable.

After three long years, the dining room felt like a four-star restaurant. Finally there was fresh fruit and eggs and bacon and all of the conveniences of the supermarket on the table. Even better, it was Dad's cooking. For a while, Sara was able to push Lian Yu and Sin into the corner of her mind and try to catch up. The only problem was, it was much harder to start than she remembered.

"So, how's law school been?" she asked Laurel as casually as she could, surprised by how foreign it sounded on her tongue.

"Well, I've gotten a couple of requests for an internship for two law firms." Laurel started.

"It's like choosing college all over again," Sara remarked. "Got any favorites?"

"Well, there's one in the Glades, and another one in California. Right now, I'm thinking about staying close to home, try to help the people who need it,"

Sara knew exactly what she was talking about. She had only been in the Glades for an hour and a half, and that was enough to see the conditions that some people were living in. But as nobody would be particularly happy if they had found out she had been in the Glades, so she tried to play dumb.

"What would you be doing in the Glades?" she asked, trying to sound as if she had no idea what was going on.

"Just trying to help people in need. Most of the clients are victims of exploitation or fraud that need legal aid to get what they had back. A lot of them don't have the finances to hire a good lawyer."

Dad looked up from his eggs. "You got an offer from CNRI?"

"Yeah," Laurel replied. "Why do you ask?"

Dad raised his eyebrows. "You do understand that you'll be working _in _the Glades, right?" Sara's eyes widened a bit more than she wanted. Laurel didn't seem concerned.

"I'll be fine. At least it's not Blüdhaven," she said.

"That's not saying a lot," Sara blurted out before she could stop herself. Realizing her mistake as everybody looked over to her, she quickly tried to correct herself. "I mean, I'm not sure how much it's changed in the past two years, but-"

"It hasn't," Mom interrupted, the first thing that she had said all morning. "If anything, it's gotten worse. I'm glad that you haven't been offered a job in that godforsaken-"

Laurel rolled her eyes. "Dad, you always told me not to be afraid to do the right thing. How are things supposed to get better if somebody doesn't help?"

Dad sighed. "I admire that. Maybe I'm overreacting a bit, but it's just..." he paused. "I want you to know what you're getting into. There was a homicide last night, victim was the fiancé of Frank Bertinelli's daughter. Nothing confirmed yet, but Pike thinks it might be the start of a gang war."

Sara didn't have to fake being ignorant. "Who's Frank Bertinelli?"

"CEO, businessman, et cetera, et cetera," was Dad's response. "And if he's not a crime boss, my name is Stinky Hulu. Only problem is, there's never been enough evidence to get a search warrant. Anyways, the only thing stolen from the apartment was a laptop, so my guess is that he had information about Bertinelli he was planning to expose."

"Quentin-"

"My point is that...that people like him are dangerous. They think that they're above the law because they have money. They don't care about the people they hurt, or the things they do," Laurel narrowed her eyes. "And they will do anything to protect their business. And they'll get rid of anything...or any_one_ who threatens to bring them to justice,"

Laurel said nothing. Sara remembered hearing this conversation before, but in a different context. It was when Dad found out that Laurel was dating Oliver. Eight years later, Laurel had become any more fond of it. Dad seemed to understand that he said something stupid, because he shifted uncomfortably in his chair. "Well, it's your decision. I just want you to be careful."

Laurel continued to give a stony glare. Fortunately, the phone rang at that second, which distracted everybody from the building tension. Dad got up immediately and answered the phone.

Sara was happy that everybody had their focus on that, because it gave her a chance to think. Quickly, her mind began to review what she had just heard. She didn't know much about...CNRI, but she was worried if it was located in the Glades. Dad was absolutely right to be concerned about Laurel working there, especially considering the kind of work she'd be doing. Sara had only touched the tip of the iceberg when she had gone to find Sin.

Sin...that was an even bigger question. They had only met for an hour, but somehow Sara felt...something. She felt obligated to make sure she was safe. At thirteen years old, she was much too young to live by herself. But what could she do? Sara was in no position to do much. Dad was already planning to sell the house. Laurel was just getting started with work, so she probably needed more time to get set up. And Mom lived 600 miles away. And none of the three had even heard of Sin. Sara remembered Sin's reaction when she said her name.

_"Cindy, right?"_

_"Are you going to take me to a foster home?"_

She remembered the look in Sin's eyes that had briefly appeared before she covered it up with a tough-chick demeanor. Disappointment, fear, anger. Sin needed somebody who could be there for her. And Sara had made a promise that if Sin ever needed anything, she'd be glad to help.

It was the second promise she needed to keep. Sara hadn't forgotten about the first one. The one she had made when she was still on the island.

* * *

_20 hours later..._

* * *

Dad was definitely annoyed.

Tommy was glad that he was talking by phone, because if they were talking face-to-face, it would have been much scarier. He had expected that he would be upset when he found out that he had "borrowed" his private plane without asking, but this couldn't wait. Oliver could still be alive. And he wouldn't have to get through Laurel to ask Sara about anything. In his mind, it made perfect sense. In his dad's mind...probably not so much.

_"I have heard a lot of horrible excuses from you, but this-"_

"It's not an excuse, Dad!" Tommy snapped. "I just found out my best friend might still be alive! If Oliver's in Hong Kong, then I'm gonna find him! You'd do the same if Robert's email was used!"

He heard what sounded like a groan._ "I have told you _over_ and _over_ again. How many times do I have to tell you not to use my private jet without my permission before it sinks in?"_

Tommy couldn't believe it. His dad still thought he was lying. All he cared about was his stupid plane. But Tommy was smart enough to know that it would do no good yelling at his father. "Look, Dad. Your plane's fine. I'm sorry, but this is an emergency, and-"

_"An emergency? Thomas Merlyn, we-"_

Tommy hung up. It was hard to focus anyway, especially because he was still exhausted from the flight. As he set his suitcase on the king-sized bed, he decided to stretch around a little bit in the penthouse suite. He had to admit, it was a pretty nice flat. He had about a minute to enjoy it before he felt a cloth thrown over his mouth. Everything started to go dim, and before long, Tommy's vision went black.

* * *

Dinah left at two in the afternoon.

Quentin was exhausted from another long night at work. Laurel wasn't picking up any of his calls, which meant that she was still mad at him. He knew that he shouldn't have given Laurel the jab at Oliver, but as a father, it felt necessary. Both of his daughters were too young to understand danger. Well, maybe with Sara, considering what she had been through...but Laurel worried him.

He was definitely proud that she was selflessly directing herself towards the less fortunate. If she wasn't his daughter, he'd have much less of a problem. But Quentin knew the fear that he felt every day when he was still an officer. Someday, there might be one particular psycho, one hyped-up kid with a gun, one thing that goes wrong, and somebody would have to come to his house and tell his family that he wouldn't be coming home. He had done it more than once. He knew how hard it was for the families. And he already knew the pain of losing a daughter. He didn't know what he'd do if he lost one of them for good. Still, he couldn't shake the feeling that in trying to prevent one problem, he'd caused another.

To be honest, he was scared. In the past few years, the crime rates had risen like his cholesterol. Things were getting worse in Starling City. He was going for the symptoms. Laurel was going for the cause. And when you went for the cause, it was often times a lot more difficult.

"Dad?"

Quentin snapped out of his daze, and realized that Sara was there. "Yeah, sweetheart?"

"Can...can I ask you a favor?"

* * *

News reporters are more like vultures than people.

That was the thought that crossed Sara's mind when she ran into about fifty of them just crying to get into the car. They didn't seem to understand that she didn't want to talk, that she wasn't interested in giving an interview. Unfortunately, she was unable to avoid them this time around.

"Miss Lance, any reports on what happened to Robert Queen or his son?"

"Could I get a couple of comments on the island?"

"Miss Lance, did you watch Oliver Queen die?"

"Is it true that you were on the boat having an affair with your sister's boyfriend?"

Sara said nothing, although she was tempted to tell some of them where she wanted to put their microphones. An interesting thing is that when you are dreading something, time seems to speed up until it reaches what you dread. The drive to the Queen Mansion was a blur, barely there in Sara's mind.

_"I promise,"_

Now she was here. And she had no idea what to do.

It should have been simple. It sounded simple at first. But the more Sara thought about it, the harder she realized it would be. Super-soldier serum and a crazy scientist? It sounded like something from a TV show based off of a comic book. What was she going to say? _I'm sorry, Mrs. Queen, but your son is dead because he chose to save my life and his Mirakuru-enhanced former friend went crazy._

Even in her head it sounded ridiculous. Moira and Thea would think she was insane. Then again, Sara wasn't sure how sane she was anymore. But she couldn't just lie and tell them that Oliver had died in the boat sinking. They deserved to know that Oliver became a hero. They deserved to know so much. The question was, how much _could_ they be told? How much would they believe?

But there was no turning back now. Dad pulled into the driveway and said: "Here we are. Tell me again what we're doing here?"

"I have something I have to tell them," she said simply, and he understood. Sara hesitated for a moment before she got out of the car.

_I don't want to do this, I don't want to do this, I don't want to-_

_Shut up,_ Sara told herself, even though she agreed. Slowly, she walked to the doorway and grabbed the brass knocker.

* * *

Thea was unscreweing the orange pill container when she heard footsteps coming down the hallway. Quickly, she buried the bottle back in her socks drawer and closer her dresser just as Raisa opened the door.

"We have a visitor," she said in her thick Russian accent. "Your mother would like you to come down,"

Thea rolled her eyes. It was probably one of those boring people from the company or something. She hoped that it was Walter. He could never replace Dad, but he had pulled Mom out of her misery after the funeral, and treated her like an adult. Plus, the accent was awesome.

But the person waiting in the living room wasn't Walter. It was probably the last person Thea was expecting to see. It was Sara Lance. Or at least, she looked somewhat like Sara Lance.

Given that Sara had just gotten back from being shipwrecked, it made sense that she didn't look too good, but Thea still had to stop herself from saying: _"Hey Sara, glad you're back. You look like shit, by the way,_" The initial shock of seeing her in the house passed quickly. Mom seemed to be thinking exactly what she was thinking.

"It's good to see you're back safe, Sara," Mom said politely, sounding a little too much like a businesswoman. Sara gave a smile, but it didn't reach her eyes. "Thanks, Moira."

Her voice sounded distant, like something was distracting her. Thea remembered to sit down before Sara started to talk again.

"I'm...sorry I dropped by unannounced, but I felt..."

"That's fine," Moira answered. Sara sat down on the opposite couch, exhaling before beginning to talk again.

"I thought that you two deserved to find out first," she said. It took Thea a moment to understand, and then it hit her like a bullet. About the ship. About Dad. About Oliver. Thea hoped for the best as she prepared for the worst.

"Some of us managed to get off the boat. Robert...Robert didn't make it to shore," Sara started.

It shouldn't have hurt as much as it did. Thea had already been to her dad's funeral, as well as her brother's. She had been expecting that answer, and thought she was prepared for the blow. But the hope that he'd somehow make it back, the hope that she had pushed aside into the back of her mind, surged up as it was extinguished forever. All she could do was give a shaky breath to steady herself as Mom choked back a sob.

"We weren't the only people on the island. Apparently it was used as an exile for Chinese war prisoners. We were nearly killed more than once. To be honest, I think that...that both of the people we were died on that island. It changed us. It changed _him."_ Sara stopped to take a deep breath. Part of what she said sounded foreign. Everything started to feel scrambled as Thea tried to make sense of what was going on.

"Oliver changed on that island. He wouldn't hesitate to...to give his own life so that I could live. I remember the look in his eyes that he had every night. Everything that went wrong, he blamed himself for what happened. He put it upon himself to make things right, even for the things that were beyond his control. If it wasn't for him, I'd be dead,"

Sara's voice sounded shaky, like every word she said drained more and more energy from her body, but Thea wasn't focused on that. All she was thinking about was Oliver. The Oliver that Sara was describing was the Oliver that few people saw. It was the side of Oliver that he rarely showed to anyone except for the people he loved. Oliver hadn't _changed_, Thea wanted to yell. He just showed his true self.

"Why are you telling us this?" she demanded. Mom gestured for her to be respectful, but Sara didn't seem to notice, nor did Thea care. She just wanted to know what happened to her brother.

"Because...because he...because I promised him that if...if I made it back and he...he..." Sara stopped, tears streaming silently down her face. Mom was following her example. Thea ran her hands through her hair. _No...no please..._

"So Oliver is..."

"He couldn't have...he...I'm so sorry,"

It was too much. Thea left the living room, ignoring Mom's pleading for her to stay, ignoring Sara's weeping as she finally broke down, blocking out everything else until she was in the safe confines of her room, where she closed the drapes and bolted the doors shut.

Nothing in life ever went her way. Ever since she was twelve, it was like the world was against her, taking away two of the most important people of her life. Mom shut herself away for a year, giving her nobody to grieve with. Walter could try, but he'd never fill the void. The dark, black void that she saw every time she was sober. The void that had replaced her brother and her father. Thea knew what Sara was going to tell her, but she couldn't have braced herself for it.

Why couldn't Sara have just said that her family had died? She didn't need to know that her brother was a hero. She didn't want her brother to be a hero. She wanted him to be alive, warm and safe, back in Starling with her.

For the second time today, she reached in her drawers, searching for the only thing that could numb her agony. When she finally found it, she popped three in and swallowed them dry, not even bothering to crush them up and snort it. All she wanted was to block it out, block out the world, just for a few blissful hours.

Eventually, everything started to get fuzzy. Mom's knocking sounded distant, the pain dissipating, all feeling subsiding. Thea felt herself drifting away...drifting...drifting...

* * *

Malcolm was very much relieved to see that his son was safe. But that didn't change how furious he was that Tommy had done something as reckless as this, especially without telling him. Naturally, he started to scold his son before he told him how glad he was that nothing had happened to him.

"After you filled my swimming pool with beer, I didn't think you could possibly do something that was more ill-conceived."

Tommy grit his teeth. "Quit the lecture, Dad. I already know-"

"You evidently don't!" Malcolm hissed. "If Oliver had made it to Hong Kong, he wouldn't have waited for _two and a half years_ to try and contact somebody! If you would just _think _for once instead of making an ass of yourself and-"

Judging from Tommy's reaction, that was a little too harsh. "So that's what I am to you? An embarrassment of a son who makes an ass of himself? Well, I'm sorry for caring about people!"

"Tommy-"

"I could have just died, Dad! Would you have even bothered to pay the ransom? Would you have cared I got killed?!"

_"Tommy-_"

"You want to know why I went? Because Oliver was the closest thing I ever had to a brother, and-"

"TOMMY!" Malcolm shouted, now looking very threatening. Tommy stopped ranting for a moment. Malcolm took a deep breath to steady his emotions. "I am happy that you're not hurt," he began. "I only lost my temper at you because I want you to be safe. You're the only family I have left, and I am _so _grateful that nothing happened to you,"

That sounded more like a greeting card that he had intended. Tommy looked down. "I'm sorry for losing it, it's just..."

"Tommy," Malcolm interrupted. This part could not wait. "Moira called me an hour ago. Sara came over to the Queen's house earlier today and told them about some of her experiences after the accident."

Tommy face-palmed. Obviously he had not thought about asking Sara for information, but Malcolm tried to hope that it was an act of uncharacteristic sensitivity rather than an oversight. "What did she say?"

Malcolm didn't like what he was about to say anymore that his son would. "Robert and Oliver are dead. I'm sorry, Tommy,"

Tommy grabbed his head in frustration. Malcolm wanted to hug his son and tell him everything was going to be alright, but as he started to reach over, Tommy held out his arm, pushing his father away.

"Don't. I...I just need some space right now." Malcolm consented to Tommy's wishes and returned to his study.

When Moira had called him, she was bawling so hard that she could barely get out the words to curse him for taking her family away. Malcolm was certainly not proud of himself for killing both his friend and his son's friend. Truthfully, he had never cared for Oliver. The boy had always been a spoiled, obnoxious brat barely better than Tommy, but regardless, he didn't have to die. Robert's death was necessary, but Oliver's was a pointless casualty. One of many that had died because of the Undertaking.

For the umpteenth time, Malcolm second-guessed himself. Was this crusade worth it? Would all the death and suffering make things right. Now that his own son, the only thing he had left that truly mattered, had nearly gotten killed because of the actions he had done for the Undertaking, was it worth it?

But once again, Malcolm shook his head. This crusade was for Tommy. To keep him safe. To cleanse Starling City from the evil that was destroying it. The right decision was often the most challenging one to make. Robert had failed to understand that, and if Malcolm had let him live, he would have gotten in the way of what needed to be done. The Glades would crumble, and from the ashes, rise like a phoenix, greater and better than it could have been before.

He had gone too far the path he had chosen to turn back. He needed to continue, or every single victim of the Undertaking would have died for nothing.

* * *

Sara found herself wishing that she had decided to break her promise to Oliver.

The very thought caused another wave of self-disgust, but that didn't change anything. Instead of bringing some sort of closure, the experience made Sara feel even worse. The Queens could never know the full story, and they wouldn't believe her if she told them anyway.

Dad hadn't asked her about what happened. The two went straight home, ignoring the reporters that were waiting for them, and locking the doors. Dad went to bed. It had been another long night. She knew how it felt. She hadn't gotten any sleep last night.

She stood in the kitchen, with fresh water and plenty of food available, electricity, clean clothes, and a thermostat. All the pleasures of modern life. And to her surprise, she almost wanted to be back on Lian Yu, running from Ivo, or Slade, it didn't matter who. On the _Amazo_, and on Lian Yu, she always had one small comfort: she always had a plan. Save your strength and hope somebody would find you. Keep Ivo happy. Get the Mirakuru to Slade. Keep Slade from finding out about Shado. Get rid of Ivo before he can twist Slade into hating Oliver. Escape the _Amazo_. Save Oliver. Get rid of Slade. Find the cure and get back home. Most of them had failed, but at least she knew what her next moves would be.

Now that was gone. For the first time in two and a half years, she had no idea what would happen next. She felt so...so _weak_, and helpless, and confused. And she couldn't stop the tears from coming through her eyes.

It should have been her. Oliver deserved to be back, not her. If it wasn't for her, Slade would still have his mind. Oliver would have made it back. At every crossroad she had, from getting on the _Queen's Gambit_, to trying to get the cure, she had made the wrong choice, and too many people had paid the price.

The only thing Sara wanted was to right her wrongs, and she had no idea how. All she could do was crumble to the floor and weep bitterly as the hours ticked by.

* * *

**Hopefully this chapter was worth the wait. I am already hard at work on Chapter 6, which will be out in August. **

**Probably the biggest request I got was for Sara to tell Moira and Thea about Oliver, so this was one of the most important parts to get right. If I remember correctly, I got six requests to have that particular scene. It was probably the hardest part of this chapter to write, especially because when it's hard for me already. I hope that I met your expectations.**

**I was going to post the answers to your reviews up top, but I figured it might be a spoiler, so I decided to post them down here:**

**Posted in Chronological Order**

**-TheMaster4444: You'll see. ;)  
-highlander348: If only it were that simple. Sara still barely knows Sin, and given that she just got back, she's not in a situation where she can do that yet. Sara will need time before she's ready to make the next step. You'll just have to wait and see what that next step is.  
-WinterRain36: I'd tell you how that sounds, but it's too far away.  
-234dfg: Thank you. You will all see what happens when Oliver returns to Starling. As for the scene with the Queens...hopefully it is up to your expectations.**

**Probably the second most requested thing was to see what happens when Oliver comes back to Starling on the mission for Waller. I'm not revealing any of my plans for that yet, considering that it takes places in February 2010, which is about... 4 or 5 months away from where this story is right now. But I have read those requests, and I am working on it.**

**I would also like to give a shout out to WinterRain36 for their help with this story. You have given me a lot of help with some of the key points of the story, and this wouldn't be anywhere as good without your suggestions. Thank you very much.**

**Thank you guys for continuing for your continued support and feedback. Remember to leave your honest thoughts on the story in the reviews, as well as any questions, or anything else you want to see in the upcoming chapters. I will do my best to listen.**

**COMING SOON  
_Chapter 6: Pilot_**

**UPDATE: Chapter 6 will be out by Tuesday, August 10th.**


	6. Chapter 6: Pilot

**Hey guys. I want to thank you all again for your feedback and support for the last chapter. This was probably the hardest chapter I've had to write so far, and I'm still a little iffy about how it turned out, but I've got a great place to start for the next one. Please let me know how well you think it turned out, it helps more than you know. Here are the responses for last chapter's reviews:**

**Ch. 5:  
-Phillipe363: Thank you. I'll make sure that there's more for you to come back to ;)  
-motherdrukker: Glad to hear it. Hopefully there won't be as long of a wait next time.  
-WinterRain36: Maybe...we'll see.  
-234dfg: Thank you. It was worth the effort put into it.  
-Guest: I'll do my best to update more frequently.  
-mfmxxx: I thought about that, but what it came down to for me is that it wouldn't affect Oliver's return plans until he actually returns to Starling, which won't be for a little while. But yeah, Sara won't be a superb vigilante immediately. She has some level of training from Ivo, but she's nowhere near the level that she was at in the League.**

**I'm going to try and get chapter done on a 2-3 week basis from now on. I can't say for sure if I'll be able to stick to that, but I hope to avoid a wait like last time.  
**

**Warning: This chapter is going to have some dark moments.  
**

Chapter 6: Pilot

* * *

_(October 9, 1:17 pm)_

* * *

Sara knocked.

After about a minute, the door slowly opened, and Sin's head peeked out from the crack. As soon as she saw it was Sara, her cautious glance turned into a grin. "Hey stranger. You miss me?"

Sara smirked. "Hope you like Big Belly Burger," she said, lifting up the white bag she was holding. Sin gave a hungry glance at the bag, and Sara noticed something in her hand.

"What's with the knife?"

Sin blinked, obviously still distracted by the food. "Hm? Oh, right," she said. "You can never be too careful. Especially not here,"

All Sara could do was nod. She had not forgotten how...guarded Sin had been on their first meeting. Hopefully, they would have a chance to discuss that, but there was an order in which things needed to happen. After all, they still barely knew each other.

"So...hungry?"

The girl behind the door gave a crooked smile. "You've got your priorities straight. I like that about you,"

* * *

Sin's double cheeseburger lasted for about thirty seconds.

"Thanks," she said after swallowing her last massive bite. "It's been awhile since I've had real food,"

Sara looked up from her own lunch with a look of concern. Sin silently cursed herself for letting it slip. But she tried to disguise her nervousness and ignore how stupid it sounded when she said "What?"

"Sin, where have you been getting food for the last few months?" questioned Sara. This was the first time that she had ever asked Sin anything, and the look in her eyes made it clear that she was going to get an answer, whether Sin liked it or not. She very much did not like it.

"Let's just I've had to swallow my pride...as well as some things from the garbage," Sin answered. "It's not as bad as it sounds. You'd be surprised how much good food people just throw away,"

It was true. One time she found half of a pizza still in its box. Other than the olives, it was perfectly fine. Still, there were some days where even Sin wouldn't eat what she found.

The expression on Sara's face was a mixture of horror and disgust. Sin was expecting to be drowned in sympathy, _oh you poor girl, it must be so horrible for you,_ _blah blah blah_, but instead, Sara simply handed over her partly eaten cheeseburger. "I know what it's like. Want the other half?"

Sin tried not to inhale the burger too quickly. This was only the third time she had met Sara, but already she felt like she could trust her. Mostly because she didn't a reason to not trust her. Sara had saved her life. Everything Sara had told Sin, she was able to back up. And as another bonus, she brought food.

But somehow, Sin had the feeling that Sara knew more than she was telling. Almost everything Sara said sounded...rehearsed? No, wrong word. Thought out. Yes, that was it. Almost everything she said sounded like she had taken time to think it out. Then again, Sara hadn't spoken very much. Besides, this was all too much to be an elaborate hoax. Sin had no money, no family, nothing of significance. What reason would Sara have to lie to her? There was only one way to find out. They would have to talk.

But after awhile, the awkward silence got too uncomfortable, especially with the pensive look on Sara's expression, so Sin decided to try to break the ice. "Did...something happen?"

"Not really," Sara responded, focused on a spot that looked like an empty Soder-Cola can on the floor. "I just...I don't know. I guess that things changed a lot while I was away,"

"You were only-" Sin stopped herself. "You mean...while you were on the island?"

Sara's jaw clenched slightly, but she nodded.

"No kidding," Sin responded. "The market crashed about a year ago..." she stopped. That was when Dad got laid off and started working at another airplane company. The company that he was flying for when he cras-...no. Sin couldn't think about it. She didn't want to start crying again. She decided to skirt around that.

"...it's gotten rougher here. About a third of the people here lost their jobs when the factory closed down."

Sara looked at Sin. "The Queen Industries factory?"

"Yep. Not to mention that everybody here seems to think that the law doesn't apply to them. Companies and gangs are getting harder to tell apart. You saw Brick's ,"

Sara nodded, then shifted her gaze slightly to another point that Sin couldn't see. "So that's what Laurel's doing..."

"Who?"

"My sister. She's a junior in law school. She got offered an internship at a law firm working in the Glades. It sounds like she might be able to make a difference,"

Sin snorted. "Good luck with that," she quipped. As soon as she said that, Sara looked her directly in the eyes and made her regret it. "You obviously don't know my sister,"

"You obviously don't know what she's going up against," Sin argued. "I could count all the high-ranking criminals who got convicted on one hand. They'll get out of trouble, one way or another. They know how to work the system,"

"You never need to go outside the system to find justice," Sara replied, a definite tension in her voice.

"I wish I could believe that," Sin said honestly. "But if there are rules, people will always find a way to work around them. It's probably too late for the Glades already. Most of the people here have gotten used to the way things are. They've given up,"

Sara sighed. "So...it's like the police are treating the symptoms, but not the actual disease?"

Sin thought for a moment. "More or less. The police can do all they want, but they can't give the Glades what it needs,"

"What do you mean?" Sara asked, her eyes narrowed.

"We don't need laws, Sara. We need hope. That's why a lot of people turn to all of...this. They don't see any other way,"

Sara looked at her, as if wondering if she was holding back. If that was what she was thinking, then she'd be right. But fortunately, she sighed and turned her head away long enough for Sin to sigh silently in relief. "I'm hoping that someday I'll be able to change your mind,"

The food in Sin's stomach churned unpleasantly. "You and me both,"

Sara had to leave about ten minutes later. Sin had just thrown away the burger wrappers when she heard another knock on the door. Immediately, she reached for her knife as she tip-toed to the doorway. The person knocked again.

As the door creaked open and the unwelcome guest's face came into view, Sin's worst fears were realized.

"Knives ain't no good against lead, kid. Open up,"

She didn't need to be told twice. All that could be done was step aside as Fall barged into her house. His cigarette-tequila fusion breath was enough to make Sin vomit, but she settled for standing about twenty feet away.

"So, you did it. You really did it. Gotta admit, I thought you were gonna chicken out,"

Sin reminded herself to thank Harper the next chance she had. The cries of the last guy who backed out still echoed in her nightmares. Trying not to shudder, she put her best confident facade up. "I'm not that stupid,"

"Shocking," Fall said in his typical, stained-tooth sneer. "Now where is it?"

"Where is what?"

Fall's eyes narrowed even more, but he didn't say anything. When he finally did speak, it did nothing to soothe Sin's nerves. "You have until 6 tomorrow night to figure out. If you're not ready then, I'll beat it out of ya'." The door slammed behind him.

* * *

_(October 10, 11:43 am)_

* * *

Laurel was waiting at the table.

"How's your first week been going so far?" she asked Sara, who was sitting down for her 15-minute break.

"So far, so good," she replied. "Other than the occasional person asking me about my time on you-know-where,"

Sara should have realized that it was bound to happen, especially with a waitress job. But it had about two and a half weeks since she had gotten back, and the questions were slowly becoming less frequent. Before the _Amazo_ and Lian Yu, Sara would have scoffed at the idea of liking work, but now working felt...therapeutic. It gave her some form of direction, an idea of what to expect.

The thought of that surprised her a little bit. So much had changed in the past two-and-a-half years, including herself. Fortunately, some things hadn't changed. Like Laurel dipping her fries in the black-and-white milkshake.

"I haven't seen you do that in three years, and I still think its disgusting," she quipped. Laurel rolled her eyes. "You know, you'd like it if you tried it,"

"You said that about those stuffed turnips," Sara reminded her.

Laurel couldn't help but grin. "You remember that? That was like...eleven years ago,"

"Believe me, I've tried to forget," Sara said, trying not to laugh. It had been a project for Laurel in eighth grade, not to mention the most disgusting thing that Sara had ever eaten in her life. Still, it was the moments like these that Sara had missed the most. The moments were she could sit down with someone she loved, just enjoying their company, and forgetting for a few brief moments about all the hardships of the world.

But despite all of this, there was something in the back of her head, nagging her. It must have been obvious, because Laurel noticed it.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Sara replied. Laurel rolled at her straight in the eyes. "Nice try. Now, let's do that again, and let's be honest the time: what's wrong?"

For a moment, Sara said nothing. She was trying to figure out what part she wanted to tell her sister, but Laurel interpreted the silence differently. "Sorry. If you don't want to talk about it, that's fi-"

"No, it's not that," Sara interrupted. "It's just...how can you be so ready to welcome back? Especially after what I did?"

Laurel's face was emotionless, and Sara felt like she was looking at a lawyer. After a moment of silence, Laurel began to talk again. "Of course I was angry at first, but I couldn't blame you for what he did,"

A pang of guilt hit Sara. "Don't say that. I accepted the offer, I'm just as much at fault as he was,"

"Blood runs thicker than water," Laurel insisted. "I know what it's like Sara, I fell under his spell too,"

_He's not the only one who did it,_ Sara said to herself, but that was something Laurel could never know.

"His charm was only half of it, Laurel," Sara insisted. "You know that."

"Sara..."

"What did I do to deserve coming back? Why am I here instead of any of the other six that could have made it?" she continued, her voice rising with every syllable. It wasn't until she stopped that she noticed all the eyes that were examining her curiously.

Laurel sighed as the blood rushed to Sara's face. But she seemed...empathetic.

"Everything happens for a reason, Sara. We just don't always understand why. That's the only way to explain anything,"

Sara took a minute to think about those words. "You're right, it's just...what purpose do I have here now?"

"Don't ask me for the reason why you made it back. That's for you to find out," Laurel replied.

That answer didn't bring Sara much farther from where she started, but somehow, it still made her feel better. "Thanks, sis,"

_Beep_. Sara looked at the clock and realized that she already gone a minute over. She shared a hug with Laurel before heading back to get her apron.

* * *

_(October 10, 6:26 pm)_

* * *

The door was half open when Sara arrived at Sin's house last night.

Immediately she knew that something was wrong. It was already starting to get dark, why would Sin...oh gosh.

The bag of Big Belly Burger fell to the ground as Sara bolted into the house, and the bad feeling in her gut got even worse. Several things had been knocked down in the main entrance, and it was there that Sara finally noticed the red trail coming from inside. "No..."

But at the end of the trail, there was no body. There was only a dirty couch stained with red, and a napkin sitting unnoticed on one of the cushions. Nothing made any sense: why would somebody shoot Sin point-blank and drag her out of the house? Why hadn't she heard something about it on the news?

Sara sat on the couch (as far away as possible from the blood) to think through what she saw. As she got down, she noticed the napkin flutter slightly, and out of the corner of her eye she got a glimpse of something on the other side. The answer, written in a hasty scrawl, was there in front of her:

"Queen Industries Warehouse 7,"

She silently walked out the back door before bursting into a full sprint.

* * *

"Wake up!"

The sack was yanked from Sin's head and she was temporarily blinded by the light shining down on her. Two men stood above her body, faces masked by the flashlight in their hands. If she didn't have such a throbbing headache, it probably would have been a lot more terrifying, especially with the bullet lodged in her shoulder.

She tried to sit herself up, but the man on the left pulled a gun from his belt and pointed it at her forehead. "Don't try anything stupid," he sneered. "This will be as easy or as painful as you like,"

"Got nobody here to save you, little bitch," the man on the right said smugly. "Nobody knows where you are. So let me ask you again, and this time you will answer me. Where. Is. It?"

"Where is what?" Sin hissed. She truly had no idea what he was talking about, but she knew who he was. And she knew that he wasn't going to appreciate her honesty. Sure enough, she could hear him growl quietly.

"Don't give me that bullshit," Fall snarled. "Harper told me you were at the crash. He says that somebody took the file, and I know that neither of those two louts have it. And that leaves you,"

Dread hit her like a bullet, and she would know what that felt like. Sin knew exactly what he was talking about now. But she hadn't actually been at the crash. Harper knew that Sin had backed out on the plan last-minute. The only reason he would have told Fall otherwise was because of what Fall did to the last kid who tried to back out. Sin still had nightmares about it.

"I don't know where it is," she tried. "Maybe it wasn't even-"

"It was taken," the other man said. "I would know if it wasn't,"

"Yeah, yeah, stick a fork in it, Officer Annoyi-" Fall started, but the other man pointed the gun away from Sin and at Fall's head.

"What the hell are you doing? Do you think I need that broadcasted right now?" the man hissed. Suddenly, it all clicked. The other man was a cop. Not that it would do any good to announce that.

"There's nobody here, and besides, we'll kill the little shit anyway when we're done," Fall replied, without a tinge of conscience or care in his voice. "Or do you have a problem with that, pig?"

"Not really. The Glades got enough of these rats crawling around. I'll doing a civil service," Officer Annoying replied.

"Thanks. I'm right here, you know," Sin said. The moment it came out of her mouth, she knew that she had just screwed up royally.

"I didn't ask you for your opinion, bitch!" Fall yelled, launching his steel-toed boot into her chest. Sin thought she heard one of her ribs crack, but she had little time to think about it before Fall kicked her again.

"You don't speak to me unless you're spoken to!" he ranted, kicking her a third time, this time in the stomach. Sin instinctively curled up in the fetal position to protect herself. Unfortunately, Fall got past that by booting her in the face.

"Enough!" Officer Annoying yelled. "She can't tell you anything if you beat her senseless, dumbass!"

Fall's breathing sounded fast and angry, like exhaust from a train, but he finally stopped. The pain in Sin's head was now white-hot, and everything in her vision fell out of focus.

"I'm going to ask you one. More. Time," she heard Fall say as the barrel to a gun was jammed into the side of her head. His voice sounded distant, but she could feel his hot breath on her face. "Where is-"

Crash.

Sin felt the barrel leave her head. "What the hell was that?" Fall said.

"Somebody's here." Officer Annoying said, a twinge of panic in his voice. "Leave her. Find them before they let anybody else know,"

For once, Fall didn't protest. She heard the two walking away, but somebody else was coming. Who...she blinked again...and sighed in relief as her vision came back into focus.

"Hang on," said the voice of Sara Lance.

* * *

Sin's arms hung limply as Sara picked her up. "Looks like you found my note," she murmured drowsily.

Sara wasn't sure what she was going to do next, but she did know that she needed to get Sin out of there. There was a large gash on her forehead, and her left eye was already starting to swell from where the man kicked her.

"Stay with me, Cindy," Sara said quietly. Sin looked up, and gave a pained half-grin. "Don't call me that,"

At least she was still responding. As silently as possible, she snuck over to the wall and set Sin down by some grates. "Stay quiet and keep out of sight. I'll be back,"

"What? No, please! Don't leave me!" Sin pleaded. The guilt stabbed Sara in the chest, but she forced herself to turn away. "I'll be back. I promise,"

It took only took four seconds for Sin to disappear from view, the warehouse was so dark. All Sara knew was that she had to distract the two men long enough for her to figure out a plan. But right now, all she could think about is what she had heard.

The criminal was working with a cop. The officer didn't care about Sin. According to him, the sooner they killed the girl, the better. Everything that her dad had taught her...no, she couldn't focus on that now. She just needed to focus on staying alive.

"We know you're in here, whoever you are!" she heard the man yell. "Come out, come out, wherever you are!"

"Do as we say, and we might let you live!" the officer called after him.

_Liar_, Sara thought. Judging by their voices, they were about...ten, maybe fifteen yards away. She hid behind the nearest shelf just as a flashlight shined in her direction.

"I saw something around that way," the criminal suspected. The footsteps started to get louder. Sara held her breath.

The footsteps got closer...

Sara started to tiptoe down the shelf...

Maybe twenty feet away...

Wait, this wasn't a...

Fifteen feet...

It was a stack of cardboard boxes filled with...

Eight feet...

Sara pulled her sweatshirt over her head...

Four feet...

She had one shot at this...

Two feet...

One, two...

One foot...

_Three_. Summoning all her strength, she pushed over the Leaning Tower of Boxes. The two men on the other side cursed as about four hundred pounds of metal tools and car parts rained onto their heads. Sara bolted away as fast as possible, but one flashlight beam washed over her. Had she side-stepped half a second later, the bullet would have hit.

"Hold still!" the criminal yelled, charging after her. Sara started knocking over anything...no, everything nearby into her path in an attempt to slow her pursuer down, turning as many corners as possible. She turned left, right, straight, left again, right, right, left, the other way to avoid a dead end, left, right, left, left, left, right...and stopped.

The officer was standing in front of her, pointing both his flashlight and his gun at her. "Fall, she's here!" he hollered. In Sara's panic, she did the first thing that came to her mind and grabbed his shooting arm. Unfortunately, he put up more of a struggle than she was expecting, but in the commotion, he dropped his flashlight. Sara pushed away and ran to the left, not paying attention to the crashing sounds behind her.

It felt like an hour had gone by before she finally stopped running. Panting for a minute, she looked trying to make out anybody in the darkness until she felt an arm close around her neck.

"Don't move a muscle, _bitch_," the man named Fall jeered. "It's gonna be over soon,"

Sara tried to remember the way Ivo had taught her to get out of headlocks, but with the lack of oxygen to her brain, it was harder to think.

"You're not worth a bullet," she could hear him say. "I'm gonna kill you with my bare hands,"

Sara did the first thing she could think of, and bit down on his arm. As he howled in pain, his grip only loosened slightly, but she felt his stance become slightly less set. She threw herself backwards, sending both of them to the floor. Judging by the cracking noise and confused groans, Fall had landed on his head. Sara scrambled out of his arms and punched him again. This time, she didn't hear any noise coming from him. Slowly, cautiously, she got up, picking up his flashlight off the ground and turning it on.

Suddenly, his body shifted and his head bolted up. She shrieked before stomping on his face. He didn't move after that. Slowly, she kneeled down and checked his pulse, ready to bludgeon him with the flashlight if he woke up again. When he didn't, she got up and ran as far away as possible.

"Sin?!" she yelled into the darkness.

"Hey buddy, what's up? I'm just bleeding out over here!" she heard in the dark. Sara sighed in relief and ran over to where she heard the voice.

* * *

Sin felt somebody pick her up and take her away. It was hard to see anything, but she figured that it was more because of the dark than from the kick to the face she had gotten.

"Hold on, it's going to be okay," she heard Sara whisper. "They're gone,"

"You don't mean that they're...you know, _dead_, right?" Sin asked cautiously.

"No! No no no no no! They just got knocked out," Sara asserted. Sin made a sound somewhere between a groan and an "uhhh..."

"Trust me, I checked. They still have a pulse,"

That made her feel a little better. As soon as they got out of the warehouse, Sin shifted. "Set me down, I can walk,"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, mom," Sin quipped. Sara probably was rolling her eyes when she set Sin down on the blacktop. Her arm was throbbing and covered in dried blood, her head still hurt, and judging by the pain in her chest, she had cracked a few ribs. Her legs, however, felt perfectly fine.

"Give me a sec," she grumbled as she got painfully up to her feet.

"We gotta get out of here," Sara murmured, eyes darting around furiously.

"No kidding," Sin replied. "But we can't go back to the house. That'll be the first place they go to find me,"

The blonde woman grimaced. "We need to find somewhere for you to hide out in for the next couple of days. Someplace that nobody will go in,"

Sin thought for a moment. Something abandoned, something not too far away, because she wasn't sure how much farther she could go..."The Clock Tower,"

"What?"

"There's an abandoned clock tower a few blocks from here. Nobody's been in for thirty years." Sin suggested. _Not to mention that it sounded cool_.

This night seemed to have taken an uphill turn, because not only did Sara agree, but they managed to get to the tower without too much trouble. The challenge was getting in. The door wasn't locked, but both of them agreed that the safest spot would be the top room, which meant a bit of climbing. Finally, as Sin forced herself up the last rung, it was all over. Or so she thought.

"Let me see your arm," Sara demanded. Sin sighed, before taking off her jacket. The woman grimaced at the sight. "We need to go to a hospital, don't we?"

"That's not an option," Sin blinked. "What do you mean? Why not?"

"When they see that you have a bullet wound, they're going to ask questions. Questions that we're not going to be able to answer unless we want the officer to find us," Sara replied. "Do you have anything at your place like tylenol or tweezers?"

"I got some stuff in Dad's old cabinet, why do you ask?"

* * *

"GAAAHHHHHH!"

"Sorry," Sara said. "Almost got it. On the count of three: one, two…"

Sin let out another stream of cursing as Sara removed the bullet from her shoulder.

Immediately, Sara squeezed around the area, trying to keep more blood from flowing out. "Hold still, this is almost over,"

"It better be," Sin grumbled.

"Think happy thoughts," Sara advised, although it sounded absolutely ridiculous. Fortunately, there had been more things in that cabinet than Sin was expecting, including a few pads of gauze, some ibuprofen, medical tape, a sewing neetle, and a pair of very long tweezers. Sara had grabbed a few blankets and pillows to make things more comfortable.

With her free hand, she grabbed the cloth with rubbing alcohol and dabbed it in the wound, trying to ignore Sin's hisses of pain. After what felt like forever, she finally snipped the last piece of medical tap. Sin sighed in relief.

"You know, that's not as bad as I thought it was going to be," Sin noted, pulling on her remaining jacket.

"Really?"

"Yeah. It was worse," Sara didn't exactly appreciate Sin's sense of humor, but it was a relief that she didn't go into shock. She tried to get up, but winced in pain halfway through and was guided back down by Sara.

"You need to rest. Get your strength."

"Good idea," Sin replied. "I guess I owe you two now,"

"I'm not keeping score," Sara asserted, as she handed Sin a bottle of water and a few ibuprofen. "I'm just glad you're alright,"

This whole incident reminded Sara of her time on the _Amazo_, and the Captain's sick form of initiation for new prisoners. He would shoot them and force them to remove the bullets themselves. Sara had not forgotten the echoing screams that penetrated the steel door's of Ivo's study.

Sin gave a half-smile before swallowing the pills dry. "I should have told you earlier,"

"Told me what?"

Sin closed her good eye for a moment, as her other one was still too swollen to do too much with. "Before...before you came back, I had to...to take some jobs to get some cash. I was scared, and…" her voice started to crack. "...and alone, and I wasn't thinking. I did a few jobs for Fall-"

"Fall? You mean, the guy who tried to kick you to a pulp?"

"That's the one. Rumor has it that he used to work for Vanch,"

Sara's blood froze. "Vanch? As in, _Cyrus Vanch_?" She could recall a lot about him from Dad's rants, and it was probably only a fraction of what the full story was.

"Congratulations, you get 1000 points," Sin deadpanned. "He's smart enough not to do his own crimes, so he gets kids on the streets to do his dirty work. A week after you and I met, he told me needed me to help with a heist. They were going to set up a car crash with...some scientist guy, I can't remember his name, and steal a flash drive off of him while everybody was going nuts. I backed out last-minute, but another guy who was at the crash covered for me. Bad news is, the drive wasn't there, so Fall thought I stole it,"

Neither of them said anything for a minute. Sin looked up at the ceiling. "I...I was too afraid. I should have-"

"Don't blame yourself, Cindy," Sara said, and for once Sin didn't protest. "This was beyond your control,"

"You don't understand-"

"_Yes I do_," Sara hesitated on what to say next.

"Can you promise me that what I'm going to tell you will not be mentioned again?" she asked. Sin looked confused, but nodded.

"The two and a half years I was gone, I wasn't always on the island." she divulged.

"When the boat went down, I got separated from the others. I was stranded in the ocean for...who knows how long. A boat found me in the water, and I thought I was saved. Instead, it was a prison."

"The...captain of the boat took me under his care. I thought he was trying to protect me, but…" Sara stopped, determined not to start crying again. "He just needed me for his sick experiments. My life meant nothing to him. Part of me knew he was crazy, but I ignored that, because I knew that if I disobeyed, he'd...either make me a test subject, or throw me to the other captives. Looking back, I really don't know which was the worse alternative,"

"Holy shit," Sin muttered. "Guess that answers the question of why you didn't want to talk about your time away,"

"Biggest understatement ever," was Sara's answer. Fall reminded her of Ivo in one of his bad moods, but what disturbed her even more was his accomplice.

The man was an _officer._ The type of man that she had been raised to believe were the sworn protectors of the city. Somebody that she could always trust. And the officer pointed his gun at a teenage girl and talked about her like she was garbage. Sara felt...felt just _sick_.

"So this is why you didn't want to go to the police for anything," Sara murmured. "You'd have to tell them what you did too,"

"Not to mention Fall's bestie, Officer Annoying," Sin grumbled.

Sin felt like punching something. Fall couldn't get away with this. There were other kids like Sin who were underneath his finger who needed help. But she couldn't count on the police. Only Fall knew how many cops were working with him, and besides, she couldn't report what happened at the warehouse without explaining that she was there too. She wouldn't be able to stand the look in her father's eyes if he saw her getting put into a cell.

But she couldn't let Fall do this to anybody else either. One way or another, she would bring him to justice.

_"Don't ask me for the reason why you made it back. That's for you to find out,"_

And suddenly, it all clicked.

"Hey Sara, can I ask you something?"

"Anything,"

"As soon as I'm...you know, better, can you teach me how to fight? In case Fall finds me?"

Sara turned around. "I'll train you, but not to protect yourself from him,"

"Wha...what?"

"It's time we took things into our own hands,"

* * *

**Well, this is it. It had to happen. The Canary has been reborn. I'm not sure whether this counts as "New 52 Arrow" or "Arrow Earth 2" or "Flashpoint Arrow" or something else. DC has way too many alternate universes for my liking.**

**Well, we're back on a regular schedule. At least I hope so, but Chapter 7 will be out either before, or right after September starts. It might get a little bit harder after that because of school, but I'll do what I can. As always, please leave your honest reviews, comments, things you hope to see next, or things you hope to see explained.**

**AP signing out.**

**COMING SOON  
_Chapter 7: Grant_  
**


	7. Chapter 7: Grant

**Hey guys. I apologize for taking this chapter down originally, but the technical issues I was having was just too much. I am happy to say that Chapter 7 is now up to stay. ****Thank you all for your reviews and feedback, they are the life blood of this story. Here are the answers to the reviews for the last chapter.**

**Chapter 6:**

**-Stungun Milly: Hopefully you'll like what else is coming next:  
****-WinterRain36: You know that you're always the first person I'll go to for working through my ideas. And in response to her question about Sara's training, most of it was from her time with Ivo. As for Shado and Slade, I doubt that Shado would have given her any training, as they had barely met, and they were too focused on saving Slade to train much. Slade...maybe. I'm not sure. I don't either of them ever really trusted the other.  
-Phillipe363: At least somebody agrees with me about the multiverses. Hope you're liking what comes next.  
-Guest: Agreed. One of the few things that Season 3 got right was that it showed Laurel's progression, and that stepping into the shoes of the Canary was harder than it looked. Nyssa...Nyssa is an interesting dilemma. She's so engrained into who Sara is in the show that it would be a crime not to include her somehow in this story, but the question is how to include her. From what I understand, part of the reason Nyssa fell in love with Sara is because she was the first sign that the world was more complex than what she had been raised to believe. The first sign of life, innocence, and self-fulfillment. The League is an organization made up of people who believe fully in the darkness of the world and that there is only one way. One harsh, brutal, and difficult way. It's not something that a child should have to be raised in. I'm not sure if Nyssa has any attraction towards men, there was never any sign that she did in the show. I'm not really sure if Oliver would ever really have a relationship. Speaking of**** Oliver, there may be a slight difference. I think that _if_ he comes back (and I'm giving you any guarantees), Sara is the person who he'd open up to the most, but he would still keep things to himself. Talking about his experiences away would force him to relive them.  
-highlander348: It's right here :P**

**Looks like somebody guessed who's gonna be in this chapter. Shall we see if you were correct?**

Chapter 7: Grant

* * *

_"In a case that is both baffling and battering the police, a local officer was attacked last night while investigating what appeared to be a break-in at a Queen Industries warehouse."_

Baffling, definitely. Battering...not so much.

The report seemed pretty similar to what Quentin had been told at the scene yesterday night. According to Officer Morgan, he had heard gunshots from the abandoned factory and went inside to check it out before getting ambushed by one of the suspects. In the struggle, they had knocked over a rack of empty crates, which conveniently fell on the cop and let the suspect escape. The press, of course, made it sound like he was nearly killed when he just got a few scratches on him. If it had been that bad, he wouldn't have radioed in.

_"The officer describes the suspect as a blonde woman, about 5'5" in height, wearing a black hoodie and-"_

"What are you watching?"

Quentin turned around. "Huh? Oh, hi sweetheart,"

Sara was standing behind him, staring intently at the TV screen. "Somebody broke into a warehouse last night. Officer nearly got crushed trying to catch them."

"WHAT?!" Sara blurted out, louder than either of them had been expecting. "I mean...that's horrible! But why would somebody break into an abandoned warehouse?"

Quentin didn't remember mentioning anything about the warehouse being abandoned, which was an indication of how tired he was. "Beats me. We're taking a look into it, but right now I gotta catch a few Z's."

"You do that. I'm just gonna go on a walk. Last night was..." she paused. "A-a rough day of work, that's all I want to say."

"Uh-huh," Quentin murmured, just before falling into a much-needed sleep. He really needed to start do less night shifts.

* * *

_"__-describes the suspect as a blonde woman, about 5'5" in height, wearing a black hoodie and jeans."_

"Blonde woman?"

The first man turned to see his partner leaning over the couch, staring at the screen intently. It took him a second to understand the sudden interest.

"The thing with Brick's guy last month. You think that this might be her?"

His partner shrugged. "Might be. I never saw the chick, but he did. Of course, that's all he was able to tell me. What else have they said?"

"The officer was Antony Morgan, Fall's worm. There's more to this than he's telling them, no question about it. Do you think this might have anything to do with a heist?"

The second man thought for a moment. "Probably not. It's too small of a scale to be that sort of thing."

The first man nodded. "Good point. But if these two are the same woman, that means that we're dealing with another one, and if that's the case, we can take no chances. We need to find out who she is and what she wants,"

"Great idea, now all we have to do is use a little bit of pixie dust to show us the way,"

The first man smirked. "Not exactly. If she has a hideout, I have an idea of how to find it,"

* * *

Sin didn't feel much better when she woke up.

Everything was still pretty damn sore, and sharp pains coursed through her chest as she tried to sit up. _Stupid broken ribs_, she said to herself, along with some other, more...obscene word choices. The cold October air didn't help things much.

Sara had been here last night, when Sin fell asleep, but now there was no trace of her to be found. Immediately, it made Sin feel even worse, if that was even possible. Once again, she was completely and utterly alone. Abandoned.

_Shut up_, she told herself. _Don't be that selfish. Sara had to leave, or her family would get worried, she didn't have a choi-_

_Yes,_ the other part of her mind nagged, in an argument that had been going on for about a month. _Her family. Her _REAL _family. One that you'll never have again._

_Sara won't be gone forever__,_ Sin argued with her conscience. _Sara's coming back, she has to come back. She wouldn't just leave me here, she-_

_Just like last night? __When she left you in the warehouse, beaten and weak?_

_If she hadn't done that, I would have never gotten out of there alive. She came back, just like she said, and she'll be back. I know she'll be back._

But after awhile, Sin began to feel less optimistic. She waited for what felt like an eternity, shivering in her jacket, crawling over to the trapdoor to see if anybody was coming, looking back at the slightest noise, peeking through the small hole in the clock tower for any sign of her friend. There was no sign of anybody.

Sin would have slammed her head against the wall if she ached any less. _You opened yourself up again, you moron. And now she's gone too. Just like everybod-_

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of somebody climbing up a ladder. Instantly, she reached over for her knife, hoping for the best but preparing for the worst. Slowly, the door creaked open, and out peeked a familiar blonde head.

Sin would have run and given Sara a hug, but she didn't want to run the chance of breaking any more ribs.

"Where were you?" she asked, trying not to sound too upset. It didn't do too much good, as Sara's face was scrunched up with irritation. "Give me a sec," she grumbled, throwing up a backpack. The trapdoor slammed shut about thirty seconds later.

"Sorry it took so long. I had to keep out of sight," Sara said, sitting down next to Sin and pulling a thermos out of her bag. "Apple Cider?"

_I told you,_ Sin said to herself.

_Oh, bite me,_ her other side hissed.

After a freezing cold morning, a thermos cap full of hot apple cider was heaven. Sara had brought some other valuable resources in the pack, such as a sleeping bag, digital watch, a better jacket, gloves, a 12-pack of Soder-Cola, an assortment of toiletries, two SubWay foot-longs, a box of granola bars, and a couple of chocolate muffins.

"Did anybody see you?" Sin asked.

"Nope, but it was harder than normal. Turns out, Fall's bestie went to Channel 52,"

_"What?!"_

"Yeah. He made it sound like _I _attacked _him_, and that he was just being a good cop, checking in on some-" Sara raised her fingers to make air quotes "suspicious activity,"

Sin groaned. "Now I understand what they mean by 'lame-stream media'."

Sara smirked. "No kidding. I'm not sure how much of my face he saw last night, but I don't think he got a full glimpse, because my dad didn't arrest me this morning. Then again, he was half-awake, so...I don't know,"

She ran her hands through her hair. "This just made everything so much harder."

"Understatement of the century," Sin quipped. "I'm honestly not that surprised, though. Fall hates it when anything goes his way, particularly somebody escaping. But on the other hand..."

"It means that we have to find Fall before he finds us," Sara finished. "The question is how? Where is his...I don't know, base of operations?" the look on her face made it clear that she was just as disgusted as Sin was about how nerdy that came out.

"Wish I could tell you, but Fall's hard to find. There's only four occasions when someone like me gets to see him in person: when I met him and his fence to get the job, when he thinks we're backing out, making an example out of us, or..." she shuddered at the last one. "Making an example out of somebody else,"

The disgust was evident on Sara's face. "He makes you watch?"

"Yep. Does it to keep us in line. I've seen it once, and..." she couldn't bring herself to go on any further. "...well, you know,"

"Got it," Sara said awkwardly. "We'll figure something out later. You need to rest up and get your strength back."

Sin shuffled in her spot, which she regretted a second later as she cringed from the pain. "Can't you...ow...stay a little longer?'

"I'd love to, but I really need to go. Dad's moving out in a week, and I promised to help him box up some of the stuff after I got done with my 'walk'. It's already been about an hour, so I need to make sure I get back soon or he'll get worried."

Disappointment filled Sin's chest. It must have filled her face too, judging by the guilty expression on Sara's face. "Look, I'll be back tonight, I promise."

That made Sin feel a bit better. "Thanks," she answered. Sara grinned, before reaching into her pocket to pull a winter hat out, carefully pulling it over her head so that it covered as much of her hair as possible. "Great. See you tonight,"

Suddenly, an idea popped into Sin's head. "Wait," she said to Sara, who was already halfway down the ladder. She turned her head back. "Yeah?"

"Can you read me a bedtime story?" Sin asked with a smirk. Sara rolled her eyes in response, but even she couldn't stop the smile from creeping up on her face.

* * *

Charles Fall would have been furious if he didn't have such a throbbing headache.

Not only had Sin escaped, but the other woman as well, whoever she was. He had had her in his grasp and she still managed to slip out, giving him a concussion and a broken nose in the process.

Thankfully he had managed to get out just before the cops arrived. Morgan should have known better than to call them so quickly, although Fall understood his thought process. He just thought it was absolutely worthless.

As much as he wanted to put a bullet in Morgan's head for his incompetence, Fall knew there were still more ways to use him. The connection to the media definitely would aid in finding the woman, whoever she was. Of course, it would have been easier if Morgan hadn't been so stupid and had gotten more than just her hair color. Other than that, Morgan still gave Fall plenty of access to the inside of the SCPD. He had access to a full forensic lab, and could use that to his advantage. Sooner or later, he would find the two who humiliated him.

As he lay on his apartment bed, he began to fantasize of what he would do when that moment came. Sin, of course, would receive the usual punishment for disobeying. She would be made into an example, a warning to those who even thought about escaping. He took pleasure in imagining every blow he would inflict on her pathetic little body until she begged him for death, at which he would be merciful. But her friend...oh no. She didn't deserve to be given that chance. He had something very special already planned just for her. And after that, nobody would ever stand in his way again.

* * *

(7:24 pm)

* * *

Out of the corner of her eye, Sara noticed the two sets of footprints.

It felt like all the blood in her body had suddenly frozen. Somebody else had gotten into the clock tower. There were no footprints leading out, so whoever it was, they were still here. Immediately, Sara bolted up the stairs, hoping that she wasn't too late.

The trapdoor burst open, with Sara popping out a second later. _"SIN!"_ she cried, looking around frantically for a second until she saw her...sitting on the floor behind two men. Terror danced in her eyes. Sara recognized one of the two men. He was about thirty years old, with dark skin and a shaved head.

It was the one of the men who had tried to rape Sin. "You bastard!" Sara screamed as she rushed towards the man. Almost effortlessly, he dodged her punch and landed one on her, sending her to the ground. "Not so tough now, huh?" the man taunted.

"That's enough!" his partner said, causing the man to turn his head. In the split second that he was distracted, Sara got up and charged again. This time, she managed to hit him in the jaw, at which he turned his attention back to her. He shifted his position to a fighting stance, almost like a boxer.

"Stop!" the second man insisted, but nobody took heed of him. All Sara cared about was making the piece of shit in front of her bleed. He threw a punch at her, which she dodged, but was hit by the other fist. She grabbed that arm and flipped him onto the ground, but he rolled out of the way before she could stomp on his face, knocking her down with his leg. Before she knew it, he was on top of her, pinning both of her arms to the ground.

"Damn, no wonder the cops can't do anything 'round here. If they can be taken out by you, they must not b-"

But before he could finish, another set of arms threw him off of Sara. "I said, _that's enough,_" the second man replied, almost growling.

"Give me a break, she came after me first," the first man replied, getting to his feet.

"I don't care!" his partner snapped, turning back to Sara. It was at this point that Sara realized the second man wasn't the first man's accomplice from the first time she met Sin. He looked Hispanic, somewhere in his early-thirties with buzz-cut brown hair and a goatee. He looked familiar, but Sara couldn't place it.

"I'm sorry about that. Don't worry, your friend is safe," he said, extending an arm to help her get up. Sara now had absolutely no clue of what was going on. She tried to say something, but all that came out was "Wh-wha-how-wha..."

He gave her an incredulous look for a moment. "It looks like I have some explaining to do." he noted. "I know you might have...gotten off on the wrong foot with my partner here, but please give us the chance to sort things out. We're not here to hurt you,"

Slowly, Sara grabbed his hand, and he pulled her up. "So...you're the blonde woman, aren't you?"

Ugh. Hopefully that wasn't the nickname that stayed. "Pretty much. Who are you?"

He reached out his arm again to give her a handshake. "Ted. Ted Grant,"

* * *

**Considering the time frame, it only seemed fitting to fit Wildcat and Stanzler into this story. Sorry to leave this at a cliffhanger, but this just felt like it needed to be a two-part story. Don't worry, all questions (well, most of them at least) will be answered in the next part.  
**

**Anyways, I have a game plan set for how to schedule this fanfic...sort of. New chapters will be published within 3 weeks of the previous one. If there's a delay, I'm either going through a personal crisis, or I'm having writer's block. Hopefully neither of those will happen too often.  
**

**Please remember to leave your honest thoughts, good or bad, on this chapter, the story so far, any questions you have, and what else you want to see in upcoming chapters. The feedback really helps me out and keeps me going. As Lady Gaga once said: I live for the applause.**

**Oh, and I would like to announce that this story has hit over 3000 views in just under 5 months. Thank you all for reading this story, you have no idea how much I appreciate it.**

**_COMING SEPTEMBER 2015:_  
Chapter 8: Grant, Part 2**


	8. Chapter 8: Grant, Part Two

**Hey guys. Sorry about the issue with Chapter 7. Thankfully Chapter 8 is running smoothly. Here are the answers to last chapter's reviews.**

**Chapter 7:  
-WinterRain36: Thanks. It is hard that Sin has to endure what she has, especially at her age, but at this point there is really no better option. Just remember that the sun must set before it can rise.  
-highlander348: Well, not quite yet. You'll see.  
-kindleflame5: There is no better teacher than experience. I feel that in the show, Sara and Oliver are equals in terms of skill, it's just that Sara is willing to go farther than Oliver is, which is a result of her inner darkness. Whether or not Sara will become better than Oliver...only time will tell.**

Chapter 8: Grant, Part Two

* * *

Sara shook Ted Grant's handshake firmly.

The typical '_Nice to meet you'_ greeting probably didn't fit too well, considering that she had greeted Ted's partner with a fist to the face, although she still had a feeling that he deserved it. Sin looked both bewildered and horrified.

"You mentioned that you have some explaining to do?" Sin asked, causing all three of the others to turn their heads. "Well, get started, 'cause I want to know why your boyfriend over here tried to fuck me!"

The other man looked at her with interest. "She's got some fight in her. I like that,"

_"Isaac,"_ Ted said sternly.

"Sorry,"

Grant gave an awkward grin. "Well, it's a long story, but I'll do my best to simplify. I'll start off by saying that Isaac is _not _my boyfriend-" he gave Sin a teasing glance. "-but we do work together. For the past year and a half, we've been...trying to give back to our city, so to speak. Trying to take matters into our own hands, do the things that the cops can't,"

It took Sara a minute to understand. "So, you're..." she tried to think of the word: "...vigilantes, right?"

"More or less. That, um...incident where you met my partner Isaac," he continued, pointing to his friend: "As horrifying as it must have been, you were never in any true danger,"

Sara's fists clenched. "_True _danger? Being held by two men in an alleyway sounds pretty dangerous to me!"

"I was never going to hurt her!" Isaac protested. "Besides, there was no way I'd be able to fit my big black-"

_"Isaac!"_ Grant interrupted, much to Sara's relief. "That is _not _helping!" Isaac rolled his eyes, but nodded.

"Sorry about that," Grant grumbled, clearly embarrassed. "But as Isaac was saying, he was never planning to actually hurt your friend. He was...how do I say this...going undercover, in a way."

Instead of clarifying things, that just made Sara even more confused. "What?!"

"We've been trying to get in to Brick's gang, figure out some of his plans before he can act them out. The _plan_ for us was that Isaac would put your friend in the truck, and as they started to drive off, he would take Brick's thug and let your friend out. Of course, he didn't quite make it that far, but either way, the girl escaped unharmed, and we were able to get information from the man."

"Bullshit alert: Beep! Beep! Beep!" Sin deadpanned.

"You might want to repair your detector, because he's not lying," Isaac replied. "Now it's your turn to explain something,"

Sara looked at him incredulously. "Excuse me?"

"What _really_ happened with the officer last night? Your friend doesn't look too good,"

His voice sounded polite, but Sara still didn't trust him. Not in the least bit. At this point she wasn't sure whether or not to trust Grant, but she wasn't taking any chances. She was outnumbered two-to-one, and not in a position to disagree with either of them. She explained that she had found Sin's house in a wreck, how she had barely escaped the officer and Fall, and that she brought Sin to the tower to recover.

When she finished, Grant looked at her with a stony glance. Isaac seemed suspicious. "Huh. With a story like that, I'm surprised that you don't trust _us_,"

"I believe it," Grant said, which made Isaac's jaw drop, much to Sara's pleasure. "That would explain why your friend here hasn't gone to the ER. I am surprised though that you were able to remove the bullet in her shoulder."

"I...that's another story,"

Grant didn't seem entirely convinced, but he nodded. "One more question I have to ask. What do you planning to do now, especially since Fall has put a pretty large target on your back?"

"We're going to find that bastard and bring him to justice,"

* * *

Isaac laughed.

This time, Ted didn't stop him because he didn't entirely disagree. Those were strong words, and Ted could tell just by looking at this woman that she was not used to the level he was at, let alone someone like Charles Fall. From what he pieced together from her story, it was mostly luck that she escaped the warehouse. But he could sense both potential and drive, something he had seen in Isaac.

"Watch it. I kicked your ass before, I can do it again," she snarled, snapping Ted out of his train of thought. Isaac rolled his eyes and smirked.

"The only reason you did is because I didn't even see you. If it was evenly matched, you wouldn't last five seconds,"

"How about I prove you wrong?"

"STOP!" Ted interrupted. "We're not getting anywhere by fighting like preschoolers. But I think I can understand where he's coming from. And let me explain what I mean before you get the wrong idea," he added quickly, noticing the glare on the woman's face deepen.

"Too late,"

Ted exhaled through his nose. This was not going how he had wanted it to, and he hoped that what he was going to say wouldn't make things turn from bad to worse. "You and your friend are very lucky that you're still alive. I don't have to tell you that Charles Fall is dangerous, but I just hope you realize what it is you're dealing with."

"We don't have a choice!" the girl replied. "He's going to kill us, he nearly killed me!"

The woman's snarl had faded, replaced by a look of frustration and...fear. "We don't have a choice. He has a mole in the police department, and I can't report him. But if he finds Sin, he's going to kill her. He's already after us. We have to find him, or else-"

"He'll find you first," Ted finished for her. Isaac had fallen silent. Ted entered this conversation hoping to save somebody with everything to lose from taking a path that only the truly desperate took. But now, the only thing that he was sure of was that the woman was on that path. Other than that, he had no idea what his course of action should be.

"We need some time to talk this through," he said finally. "Could you give us a way to contact you once we've decided?"

Isaac looked at him suspiciously. "What do you think you're-"

"Trust me," Ted said, giving him a look that plainly said: _We'll talk about this later._

"How do I know you won't report me?" the woman asked. Ted supposed that this was a good question, especially given the circumstances.

"You told us our secret. You also know ours," Ted replied. "I wouldn't have told you anything if I felt that you couldn't be trusted with that information,"

The woman looked out the window for about a minute. Ultimately, she sighed and turned around. "Do you have a piece of paper?"

Ted did not, but he settled with using his arm for the time being. "Oh, and I don't think I got your name,"

She sighed. "Sara. Sara Lance,"

"Well, nice to meet you, Sara Lance,"

* * *

"What the hell were you thinking?!"

"You took the words right out of my mouth! What made you decide it was a good idea to start being a total asshole, especially after they already didn't trust us!"

"And why does it matter so much that we gain their trust?" Isaac replied. "Don't tell me that you're actually thinking of letting her do this!"

"I haven't decided anything!" Ted snapped. "But I can tell that she's going after Fall, and nothing that either of us say or do will change that. That means we have to think long and hard about what we do next."

Isaac didn't think so. "The answer seems pretty simple to me. Just ignore her and get on with the rest of our lives. Done,"

Ted rolled his eyes, as if Isaac was an idiot. "Don't do that, you know I hate it when you do that,"

"I hate it when you make me do that," he responded. "Are you really okay with letting her be made into a cautionary tale?"

"She'll be made into a cautionary tale no matter what we do," Isaac replied bluntly. "There's no way that Fall won't find her and that girl, if he's really after them. Hell, in a few months he'll be even worse than the _Culebras_,"

"That's an exaggeration," Ted said firmly. "Fall is dangerous, but he's up-and-coming. Comparing him to the _Culebras_ is a stretch,"

Isaac nodded. Fall had only been around for about two, maybe three years. The _Culebras_had not only been around for almost half of Starling's history, but they were the bloodiest and the most dangerous. They ran the Glades. They had military-grade weapons, which could be used to start a full-fledged gang war with _Los Halcones_ at any time. In fact, the only way to become a member of The _Culebras_ was to kill _un Halcon_. Ted would never say it, but Isaac knew that he was both afraid of them and determined to make them pay.

"You're right. Fall's not as bad as them. That's not saying a lot. And don't tell me that you think she could take on Fall. You saw her fight, she's an amateur. We gotta report her, it's the only way to keep herself from getting kill-"

"So, you expect that Fall's mole isn't going to report that the Blonde woman that kicked his ass is in custody?" Ted argued. Isaac opened his mouth to speak, but he realized that once again, his mentor was right.

"And unless we can be _absolutely sure_ that nobody else in the precinct is under Fall's control, going to the police is not an option,"

Isaac hadn't thought about that. "But how are we supposed to stop Fall? Or her from trying to stop Fall?"

"I don't have a damn clue," Ted said, throwing a bronze knuckle to the wrack, creating a series of clinks like a heavy-metal wind chime. "But she's not an amateur, Isaac. She's raw. Like you were when I met you."

His partner had been sitting back down on the couch when he heard that, and shot straight back up. "Are you trippin'?! I am _nothing _like that hoe! I knew how to fight before I found you, you just made me better,"

"If she can't fight, then how did she manage to land a punch on you in the clock tower?"

"She got lucky!" Isaac protested. "And besides, it was _one punch_. If we fought one-on-one, I'd put her down. There's no way she could handle what we do,"

But he noticed the dullish look in his partner's eyes when he was thinking very hard. "There's no right answer to this. The only thing we can do is the answer that's the least wrong, and right now, I think I know which answer that is,"

Isaac was expecting a response, but all he got was silence. "Well? What is it?"

"All I'm going to say right now is that once we do this, one of two things will happen. We'll decide what we do next after that,"

Ted was sounding so much like those Chinese dudes from 1980 films, Isaac wondered if he was trying to do it on purpose. "I've had enough for one night. I'm gonna go grab a Soder-Cola, you want one?"

"Sure,"

Isaac didn't hesitate to shake up the can.

* * *

_C-h-a-r-l-e-s F-a-l-l._

Sara almost smashed the enter key, she hit it so hard. After two long seconds, a couple of results came up, but Sara was sure that it was a mistake. Fall was the last person she'd expect to be a bodyguard.

_T-e-d G-r-a-n-t._

The results for Ted were much more numerous. There were a couple of YouTube videos, some posters of what must have been Ted wearing boxing gloves and shorts, and a Wikipedia article. This guy must have been at least somewhat of a big shot if he had his own Wikipedia page.

_"Theodore Julio 'Ted' Grant, also known by his ring name Wildcat, is an American boxer, blah blah blah-"_

It went on like that for a bit. From what she could make out, he was a professional boxer, and that was about it. There was nothing that said that he couldn't be trusted, but that didn't mean he could be trusted either.

_V-i-g-i-l-a-n-t-e-s i-n t-h-e G-l-a-d-e-s._

About fifty news articles came up, the earliest dating to about July 2008. Nothing had made it to mainstream news, at least directly. There were about ten articles stating a connection to several cases of assault, all against people with connections or possible connections to criminal activity. Bronze knuckles...an apprentice...activity in the Glades...the more Sara read, the more it lined up with what she had been told. The more Sara read, the more nervous she got about what she was planning to do.

Ted seemed to be honest, but the _Amazo_ had taught her that nobody is quite what they seem. Sara knew enough to know that Ted, whatever his intentions were, was incredibly dangerous. If he didn't think she could be trusted...she didn't want to think about it. And if she became a vigilante...a criminal like Ted and Isaac were...her worst fears would become true. Before she could stop herself, an image appeared in her head. Dad was looking at her through the cell bars of Iron Heights, looking at her with nothing but shame and disappointment.

But did she have another option? That question repeated over and over in her head, and for now, the answer was no. In the meantime, all she could do was delete her history, get to bed, and hope that the answer would come in time.

* * *

**I know this is a bit of a quick ending, but I felt that I'd be able to finish it off better if I did it in another chapter. **

**For anybody wondering, The Culebras was the gang that Wildcat was pursuing before Isaac killed a member. It's only natural that they're included in this story. If Ted and Isaac are going to have a role in this story, it's only fitting that some of their history is explored as well. The middle name "Julio" for Ted is a reference to one of J.R. Ramirez's (Ted's actor) more notable characters.**

**As always, leave your honest thoughts and suggestions in the reviews, and I'll reply to them next chance I get. **

**-AP**

**_COMING SOON:  
_Chapter 9: Grant, Part Three_  
_**


	9. Chapter 9: Grant, Part Three

**Hey guys. Here are the responses to last chapter's reviews:**

**Chapter 8:  
-Phillipe363: Thank you for your kind words. Sara knows that what she is undertaking is difficult, but the reality hasn't quite set in yet. Ted is aware of what she is trying to do, and you're going to see some of that in this chapter.  
-highlander348: Haha. I was trying to make Isaac a bit of an ass, so I guess that worked.  
-WinterRain36: Whoa, slow down. That's five years away. Doesn't mean I'm not thinking about it ;).  
-mfmxxx: True, but I think that idea's already been taken. And besides, this isn't about Oliver. This is about what would happen if Sara got back to Starling first. **

**I would thank you all for helping this story reach 4000 views, and for your continued feedback and support. I'm really happy with how this chapter turned out, and I hope you guys all feel the same.**

* * *

Chapter 9: Grant, Part Three

* * *

"Welcome to Big Bel...ly..."

Ted gave what he hoped was a warm smile. "Hello, Sara,"

"What are you doing here?"

"Umm...getting lunch. This is a restaurant, right?"

Sara exhaled, trying to regain her composure. "Okay...so, can I take your order?"

"Number six with a small water. What time do you have break?"

"Excuse me?"

"I need to speak to you in private. It's about...what we discussed earlier."

Ted could sense her mind racing to come up with an answer, and he understood. She still didn't trust him. He wondered, maybe if he..._no_. That was entirely out of the question. He was not about to pour out his life story to someone he'd barely met. Not even if it was the only other way.

"Half-past one,"

Ted blinked. "What?"

"I get off at one-thirty. Would that work?"

He nodded. "I don't have anything else planned."

She gave a pained smile. "Great. See you in forty-five minutes,"

"Is that how long it takes to get a burger here?"

Sara narrowed her eyes in confusion. "Wha...oh, right! Your order! Sorry, I'll get that. Sorry."

"It's fine,"

* * *

Sara was scared out of her mind.

On one hand, this could be what she was hoping for, and he was being honest. On the other, he could actually be working for Fall, and was trying to get her away so that he could throw her into a truck and get rid of her. Or worse. Part of her wanted to say no, or just not show up.

But she needed to take that risk. Regardless of what Ted's true intentions were, the best option was to do what he asked of her. Give him no reason to distrust her.

"So...is Isaac in the bathroom or something?"

"No, he's a vegan," Ted said dryly.

"Well, that would explain why he's such an ass,"

Both of them laughed, breaking up the tension. "No, he's the biggest carnivore I've ever met, and right now, he doesn't know I'm here,"

_Good_, Sara thought silently. Ted seemed to sense what she was thinking.

"I'm sorry about what happened in the Clock Tower last night. He should-"

"It's fine." Sara muttered. "So, what have you decided?"

"Well, that depends,"

"Depends on what?"

"On what I'm about to discuss with you right now," Ted replied, looking at her solemnly.

"...Okay. Go for it,"

"I want you to understand the scale of what you're signing up to do. It's a lifestyle that demands everything. Your time, your energy, your personal life. And there's a very good chance that you could die out there. Of course, I'll do the best I can to prevent that from happening, but I can't protect you completely once you're out in the field,"

"Ain't that the truth," Sara muttered.

"If you want to back out, now is your last chance to do so. And I promise you, there are going to be plenty of nights when you just want to turn away,"

"Are you trying to talk me about of this?" Sara asked, starting to wonder if it was stupid to have trusted Ted at all.

Grant didn't answer for awhile. "...Yes and no. I'm just worried that...if, you manage to stop Fall-"

"Not _if,_" Sara said, standing up. _"When,"_

"It's always an _if,_" Ted said, raising his voice to match hers. "I learned that the hard way."

"How did you learn that?" Sara retorted.

"Do you want to share what happened to you while you were away?" he growled.

Anger washed over Sara. How _dare_ he bring that up! But as she started to retort, the words stopped in her throat as she realized what he meant. Whatever had happened to Ted, it had been his _Amazo_. It was his time in hell, He was only able to share it with the people he trusted most, and even then it was difficult. Sara had only told one person about what happened to her, and only parts of it. Slowly, she sat back down, her anger fading.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "But whatever it was..."

"Don't," Ted interrupted. "Please-"

"It made you the person you are today, didn't it?"

Ted looked away into the distance for a minute. When he finally spoke, it was almost impossible to hear.

"Yeah. Yeah, it did." He looked back at her. "Umm...where were we?"

"Fall-"

"Right, that. I'm worried that...well, whatever happens with Fall, that it might not be the end. That you might get addicted to it, like I have. It's a hard way of life, Sara, but it's even harder to give it up."

Sara sighed, running her hands through her hair. "Two weeks ago, I wouldn't have dreamed about this. Honestly, I'm not even sure that I can do this. But right now, there's only two options. I either let Fall find me and Sin, or I take the fight to him,"

Ted nodded. "Well said. Now it's time to talk about my offer,"

Sara perked up. "You really mean it?"

"I'm not just gonna let you do this sort of thing alone. Do you have anything planned tonight?"

"Not at the moment." Sara was trying desperately to hide her excitement.

"Meet me at the clock tower at nine. _M__ake __sure _that nobody knows where you're going to be,"

Sara grinned. "Always do. See you then," She started to get back up, but Ted grabbed her arm.

"Before we do this, I need you to _promise_ me that this after Fall's dealt with, you won't go out doing this again."

"Ted-"

"_Promise me,"_

She sighed. "I promise,"

He gave a small smile. "Glad to hear it. Now, you might want to get back to work,"

* * *

Isaac was not happy, to say the least.

"What the FUCK?!" he screeched. "Why didn't you tell me?!"

"Because you would try to stop me!" Ted snapped. "Was I wrong?"

"That's not the point!" Isaac replied. "You told me you were just getting lunch! We don't keep secrets from each other, especially not on things like this! How is _that_ the least wrong option?!"

"Because if we don't help her, she going to die, no question!" Ted answered. "If we can at least help her, give her some proper training, then maybe, _maybe_ she has a chance,"

"I doubt it," Isaac answered. "You're thinking with your other head on this one,"

"What are you-oh, shut up!" Ted barked. "This has nothing to do with that! And besides, she's not my type!"

Isaac didn't believe that for a second, but he knew that Ted would never admit that. "Okay, fine. Whatever. But just promise me that you'll never _ever _hide something like this from me again, alright?"

Ted looked down. "I promise."

Isaac felt a little bad for losing it, but he wasn't going to suck up and say sorry. "You better hope this works,"

"You don't need to tell me that,"

"And if it doesn't?"

"Then I'm trusting you to help get her to safety. If this goes wrong, the only one paying for it is the one responsible,"

"You're not gonna pay for anything. We're a team, we don't leave each other behind,"

"I can handle myself. Get her out first, then come back for me. Are we clear?"

Ted had this so well planned, Isaac wondered if he was planning for it to go wrong.

* * *

Dad left just in time.

Sara's nerves were steadily taking control of her, and she hated it. It felt like she was on the _Amazo _again. She knew that she entirely at somebody else's mercy, and the somebody else was probably crazier than she was.

The walk to the clock tower felt twice as long, with the passing of every second _tick_ing in her head, speeding up as her nerves strengthened. The only way she knew it wasn't her heart beating was that she could feel it beat even more rapidly on her chest.

"You sure took your time," Sin remarked, as Sara climbed up at 8:56.

"Hopefully they will too," Sara replied.

"Who?"

"The two guys who came here last night,"

Sin sat up immediately. "You mean, _they're coming back?"_

"Ted said to meet him here, I'm not sure what for. Either way, he's coming, and I wasn't going to leave you alone with them,"

"And you think that we can trust them?"

Before Sara could answer, the trapdoor flung open, and a head popped out. "Evening ladies. Mind if we join?"

The squeak that came out of Sara's mouth was either _"yep"_ or _"meap."_ Ted took it as the first one, and climbed up into the room.

"Glad you showed up," said Ted. "Isaac...not so much,"

"Screw him," Sin muttered.

"I heard that," Isaac said as he followed Ted up the ladder.

Sara managed to find her voice again. "So...what's the plan?"

"What do you know about the Triad?"

It took her a second for it to come to her. "Umm...you mean the Chinese Triad?"

"The one and only." Ted remarked.

"They've been smuggling drugs into the city for awhile. We're pretty sure they're bribing the owner of the port," Isaac said, barely above a whisper. "Cocaine, methamphetamine, speed, opiates, you name it,"

"They're getting another shipment in tonight," Ted continued. "So we're going to get it before they do,"

"And then?" Sara asked, her guard raised.

"And then we get rid of it," Isaac answered, as if she was stupid. "We're still working on how to do that,"

"Only because we disagree on how to do it," Ted added, noticing the horrified look on Sara's face. "Sara, could you come with me for a second?"

Sara's instinct was to say "no", but she had to push that down. "Okay,"

Ted led her to the bottom of the staircase. Waiting there for them was a plastic grocery bag with something black in it. No, some things.

"Should have thought of this earlier, but I made do," he said casually. "Two blocks down, our truck is the green one without a license plate parked right across the gas station. Head over there and change into those. Hopefully they're the right size."

"And Isaac isn't here...why?"

"I'm getting to that," Ted said, now serious in tone. "You seem nervous. If you're thinking about backing out, that's fine. This was a lot to ask from you, especially on your first-"

"No," Sara said firmly. "I can do this,"

"Are you sure?"

Sara didn't answer immediately. She still didn't trust Ted entirely. For all she knew, the truck could be full of men ready to bring her to a brothel or something. This was probably paranoia, but still. This was her last chance to back out. Could she trust him?

Well, could she afford not to? If he was telling the truth, this could be her only chance to get some training on how to fight. It was a huge risk, but she knew the answer.

"I'm sure."

He sighed. "Okay. Don't worry, I'm feeling anxious myself."

"Well...see you there," Sara replied awkwardly.

"Yeah, see you there," he said, sounding just as uncomfortable.

* * *

Sitting alone with Isaac was the last thing Sin wanted to do.

Whether or not he said that it was only a ruse, it didn't change how scared Sin had felt in that alleyway. And it certainly didn't make Sin trust him any more. Not seeming to notice the laser beams coming from Sin's eyes, Isaac grabbed an apple from his backpack and started to segment it with a pocketknife. Before she realized it, Sin's attention turned to the fruit in his hands.

It had been so long since she had eaten something...fresh. While the quality of food had certainly improved since Sara had come back, it was all warm or dried or salted. There wasn't a working refrigerator in her house or in the clock tower, so everything had to be able to last for awhile. She had almost forgotten what it tasted like, the sensation of crispy sweet juiciness on her to-

"Want some?"

Sin was snapped out of her fantasy. "What?"

"You want some? You're staring at it no one's business," Isaac said, offering a slice of the apple.

_Say no_, Sin told herself.

"Sure, thanks,"

The man handed over about a quarter of apple, and Sin finished it before she could curse herself for her moment of weakness.

"How long have you been out?"

Sin looked around for anybody else that Isaac could have been taking to. When she turned back, he had one eyebrow raised expectantly.

"Out?"

"You know, on the streets? How long have you been livin' alone?"

"Uhh...seven or eight months?" Sin guessed. "Haven't been exactly been on the streets, but...I've b-been alone,"

Isaac nodded. "Sixteen years," he finally said. "I was eleven when my mom died. You have to learn-"

"-to fend for yourself," Sin finished for him.

He gave a sad grin. "For sure. You're lucky that she's there for you,"

"No she isn't. She died when I was six months old," Sin said, almost automatically.

Isaac looked bewildered. "Wait, hold on a sec. Who are you talking about?"

"My mom."

"No no no no no, not her. I meant...you know-"

"Sara?"

He nodded. "Yeah. How the hell did you two meet anyway?"

"Long story," Sin said a little too quickly. Isaac raised his eyebrows, but he didn't pry further. "You don't like her very much, do you?"

Isaac scoffed. "I'm not really goin' to like someone who knocked me out with a metal pipe too easy. Besides, she's gotten lucky a few times. If there had been light in that warehouse, Fall would've turned her into school food,"

"You're wrong,"

"I fought her last night. She's better than most, I'll give her that, but she's sloppy. Just watching her fight, I can tell she's never had someone teach 'er. If she's going up against Charles Fall, who has five years of professional training in beating people to pulp, she's gonna have to learn fast."

Sin wouldn't want to admit it, but Isaac had a point. Fall liked to make a point of how far he'd go if anybody tried to back out. Sin's body still ached, and Fall had been holding back on her. But Sara was different. Sara had saved her twice now, and she had seen her fight. If anybody could stop Fall, Sara could.

"She will," she answered.

"Well, tonight's gonna be the trial run," Isaac said, not sounding like he entirely believed her. "Let's see if you're right,"

Sin shifted in her spot, desperate to change the subject. "How did you and Ted meet?"

"Long story," he said, with a half-grin on his face. "I'll share mine when you share yours,"

"I'll think about it,"

They would talked longer, but Ted called Isaac away, leaving Sin alone once again.

* * *

The walk to the truck was completely silent.

Sara was waiting for them in the back seat. The clothes were a little big, but it would do the trick.

"You're gonna need this," he said as he threw Sara a ski mask. "Don't put that on until after we get inside, or we'll draw attention,"

"Got it," she mumbled as Ted got in.

Isaac took the driver's seat. "Lady and gentleman, fasten your seatbelt. This may be a bumpy ride,"

"Roger," Ted said, not moving an inch towards his belt. "Let's move,"

The ride only took about fifteen minutes, but Ted felt that they were moving too slow. Every second counted in this. He had chosen something far too risky for Sara's first night, there were so many risks, so many things that could go wrong. Such as...

_Knock it off_, he told himself. _Psyching yourself out isn't going to make things any better_.

Ted knew this idea could go horribly wrong.

But he did his best to act confident about it. It was the same feeling he always had before a big match. Boxing was as much a psychological sport as it was physical.

"Ted!"

He jumped. "Huh?"

"We're here, man. Let's do this,"

* * *

"Let's do this,"

Sara tugged at the balaclava. It was a good idea to hide her identity, but somehow, it didn't feel right. It was hard to breathe in, and it was an unpleasant feeling right between her eyes that she couldn't stop herself from pulling at. She had to scrunch up her hair so that it would fit, which was almost worse. But she sucked it up and walked out of the truck.

Sitting about three hundred feet away were four pallets, loaded with crates that were held together with a few layers of what looked like Saran Wrap.

"Small shipment tonight," Ted remarked. "The Triad is scheduled to arrive in exactly forty-two minutes to pick up this shipment. We need to be out of there in the next thirty-five, or there won't be enough distance between us. Get as many crates in the truck as you can,"

Isaac didn't waste anytime. He immediately ran to a stack of crates, which was about fifty meters away. Sara realized that he was doing: the truck was parked just out of sight, keeping it hidden in case the Triad came early. Unfortunately, that meant it would take longer to get it to the truck, which meant that she had to make every second count.

The first crate weighed about fifty pounds. Watching how easily Isaac had carried his, Sara was caught off-guard and almost dropped it, but managed to keep her grip. She was more ready for the second crate.

Ted kept checking his watch, looking to see if anybody was coming. It made Sara feel a little better to know that he was nervous about this too. Her hands had been shaking the whole car ride there.

It was long work, but slowly the stacks got smaller. One pallet was empty, then another. Before long, there was only one left

Sara was starting to walk back from the truck when she heard a car door slam, too far away to be from the truck.

Ted froze. "You hear that?"

"Yes," she whispered. "Someone's here,"

"Get in the truck," Ted replied. "Now!"

Sara got in the back, keeping as quiet as she could. Then, both of them heard somebody speaking in Mandarin.

"Shit," Ted murmured. "Isaac,"

* * *

**COMING OCTOBER 2015:  
****Grant, Part Four**

**No, I'm just kidding. Keep reading.**

* * *

If he made it out of this, Isaac was going to kill Ted.

He managed to get out of sight just in time, diving behind the last pallet. The Triad had come twenty minutes early. Isaac didn't dare peek around to see how many there were, but he knew at least one of them would have a gun. Which meant he was royally screwed.

All he could do was wait as the footsteps got louder and louder. He slid down further, hoping that he was still unnoticed.

"Si gong sha shi bidi ho un kaiso kaiso," he heard one say.

"Psy szcuecha pong poi king gao," said a second. Isaac didn't speak a word of Chinese, so what he heard was probably nothing like what was actually being said.

He knew there was no way to escape. The water was too far away, and so was the truck. That left only one option: go down swinging. So as soon as he saw one foot step around the corner, he let out a war-cry and pounced onto the first poor bastard he saw.

* * *

Six men with guns. Not Ted's idea of a typical Friday night.

Isaac had hidden before they saw him, but there was no way he'd be able to take them all out on his own. As quietly as he could, Ted started to sneak out of the shadows.

They began to talk among each other. One of them pointed to one of the empty pallets, and Ted cursed under his breath. He had forgotten to grab the empty ones, and they realized that they were missing about...a hell of a lot of crates. Ted thought they would try and split up, but instead they grouped together, only pulling out their guns and switching off the safety. Idiots.

Quietly as he could, he started to edge closer, but he knew it would be too late. They would kill Isaac, and then go for him. He had to get Isaac out of there. So he did the first thing that came to his mind.

"AAAAAAUUUUUGGGGHHHHHHH!"

Looking back on it later, Ted didn't know who was screaming louder: him, Isaac, or the Triad. As Ted threw one brass-knuckled fist into a Triad's face, Isaac jumped out from behind the last palette like a demon.

Ted didn't waste any time: while the first one was stunned, he went straight to the other, not giving the man a chance to even lift up his gun. Isaac had the same idea, and moved on to another thug. However, the element of surprise didn't last for too long.

While Isaac was working on one Triad, another grabbed his pistol and rammed it into his head, sending him onto the ground. Ted immediately threw himself onto the man who attacked Isaac, taking him on a trip to the concrete before he could finish the job.

"GO! GO! Get out of here!" he hollered.

"Maybe later," Isaac shouted back, kicking one of the Triad's in both of his kneecaps. The night was broken by the man's holler of pain as he crumbled onto the ground. Ted's apprentice kicked him again in the face for good measure.

Another one raised his gun and pointed it at Isaac, but just as Ted warned Isaac to get out of the way, the Triad member suddenly shot in the completely wrong direction before doing what looked like a somersault and toppling onto the ground.

"Get up!" ordered Sara Lance, offering him her hand.

* * *

Once he got up, Ted needed nobody's help.

It was like watching a movie in fast forward: he landed punch after punch, dodged everything that the opponent threw at him. Sara couldn't spend too much time watching, as she had to keep fighting too.

Her training under Ivo truly helped her tonight: she remembered all the pressure points he showed her, which ones were easiest to hit during a fight and which were the most effective in case the prisoners ever got ahold of her. It was the only good thing he had given her, and tonight it was a great thing. The feeling was totally different from what happened with Fall: she was in control and not afraid. She was fighting back, and the enemy knew exactly where she was. In fact, she was hoping they'd come to her. And she loved it.

Of course, the adrenaline rush had to end, and it ended when the last Triad member pointed his pistol at her face. Instinctively, she grabbed his wrist, but he already had started to fire. The good news: he missed her. The bad news: he shot the truck's engine.

It was almost like fireworks, watching the truck explode like a fiery watermelon wrapped in too many rubber bands. The three could only watch as millions of dollars of drugs burned, charred fragments all around.

"Damn it," Sara said as soon as the ringing in her ears stopped. "I left my clothes in there,"

Isaac took off his mask enough to let his laugh ring. "Burn, baby burn!"

"You're nuts," Ted said, almost Sara was sure he was grinning underneath his balaclava. "Now let's get out of here before the cops arrive,"

* * *

"That's gonna hurt in the morning,"

"I've felt better," Isaac admitted, wiping the blood from his nose. "I gotta say, you did better than I expected,"

Sara smirked. "Not saying a lot,"

Ted seemed to be trying not to laugh. "Definitely not. But he's right. You did a good job for your first night,"

Sara's mood had changed dramatically. Instead of fearful apprehension, she felt...calm? No, that was too strong of a word. She felt...at ease. It no longer felt like the two men were threats, but allies. It was too early to describe them as friends, especially Isaac. But Ted was close.

"Thanks," she said. "Does that mean I get to skip a few lessons, sensei?"

"One or two," Ted answered. "If anybody asks, we're calling it a gym membership,"

Isaac scowled behind the towel. "Gym membership?"

"Works for me," Sin added. "You can be the yoga instructor,"

Isaac rolled his eyes, but gave the tiniest indication of a smile. "Fat chance,"

Sara glanced at them. "You two have gotten chummy,"

"Eh, weirder things have happened," Ted said. "Hey, if it makes things any easier, we can help with Sin. I'm sure that living in an abandoned clock tower isn't the most pleasant."

"Damn right," Sin interjected. Sara stammered for an answer. "I-"

"Hey, if they do anything, I'll be getting the last laugh." Sin replied. "These two got nothing on you,"

Even so, Sara wasn't ready to trust either of them with _that_ yet. "Give me some time to think about it,"

Sin looked disappointed, but didn't protest. Ted seemed to have been expecting that answer.

"Well, if you need anything, don't be afraid to ask. We're in this together, right?"

He held out his hand. Sara hesitated for a moment.

"Right,"

* * *

**And here we are. The end to the Grant story arc.**

**I wanted Isaac to be unlikable at first. I think that he is almost the Arrowverse equivalent to Jason Todd, and there are a lot of parallels between the two characters. At the same time, I want him to be three-dimensional, because almost every character on Arrow is like that. As for Ted, he seems pretty wise in the show, but this is before. I wanted to show that the mistakes he made as an early vigilante, and his relationship with Isaac before he fired him.  
**

**It's been established that the Triad has a pretty big presence in Starling, so it should be natural that they're up to no good.  
**

**Season 4 of Arrow is almost here. Hopefully it will be better than Season 3 was.**

**There is a message in the next section. Please take a look at it. Also, please leave your thoughts on this chapter in the reviews. You have no idea how much it helps to have feedback from readers.**


	10. 6 Month Update (Not a Chapter)

**Note: Please make sure you have read the previous chapter before taking a look at this. Because I released this right after the release of Chapter 9, I'm worried that some of you may have forgot to read it. If you haven't, then I apologize.**

(This is not a Chapter)

* * *

Thank you guys all so much for a great first 6 months of __The Yellow Bird.__ With over 4000 views, 18 favorites, 40 follows, and 47 reviews, this is the Fanfic that I am most proud of, and I couldn't have gotten there without all of your support. But alas, real life calls, and __The Yellow Bird__ will be on a temporary hiatus. I honestly didn't want to do this, but I have chosen to do so for a couple of reasons.

The first is that with the start of the school year, I need to spend as much time as possible focusing on what is currently the most important. Most FanFiction users will understand where I am coming from.

The second is that with the arrival of Season 4, I want the chance to see what happens in the flashbacks so I can integrate that into this story. While I have enough from Season 3 to start, I want to set things up so that this can feel as much like a parallel canon as possible.

The third reason is that after the long wait between Chapters 4 and 5, I want to have the chance to get this story at least somewhat pre-written so that I can release content on a regular basis. New chapter every week would be ideal, but I'll see what reality permits.

And finally, I want you guys to have a part in this. If I didn't get your feedback, I doubt that __The Yellow Bird__ would be half as good as what I have written. The review section is open, so give me your best ideas. I'll select the best ones, but don't be afraid to give just a small little tidbit. In the meantime, I want this to function as a sort of Q&amp;A as well. If you have any burning questions about the story, PM me or put it in the reviews, and I'll answer it in the next chapter. Tell me what you've liked so far, any ideas you have, and some things you think need improvement. Just remember to leave your reviews, they are the life blood of this story.

One note though. If anybody even __mentions__ Olicity in the comments, you can forget about me listening to any more of your suggestions. End of discussion.

**_**_The Yellow Bird _**_******will return:  
********January 2016****

****-AP****  
__Annoymous Poet__


	11. Chapter 10: Tainted

**Hey guys. Great to be back.**

**I have been working on this for awhile. In the meantime, here are the answers to the last reviews:**

**Chapter 4:  
-Alex: Aww...  
Chapter 6:  
-Rose: Glad you like this  
Chapter 9:  
-highlander348: Oh, of course not. Sara's never been good at following directions ;). And you'll see about the training.  
-Guest: Tee hee ;)  
-Sinlover: Good to hear.  
Six Month Update:  
-WinterRain36: Hmm...maybe. Sara's a little short on cash, but we'll see where it goes.  
-Guest: Thank you for the great feedback.  
-Linda: We'll see...  
-Guest: It's updated now...;)  
-Guest: Wow. Hopefully you're thinking of other stuff...just kidding. Glad you're liking it.**

* * *

Chapter 10: Tainted

* * *

"You're getting better,"

"You're not taking it easy anymore," Sara panted. "Thanks though,"

Sara was a natural. It had only been two weeks and she was already fighting like it had been two months. Ted was still taking it easy on her, but then again, it would look suspicious if she went to work with a black eye.

"Are you lovebirds done?" Isaac quipped. "I'm not getting any younger here,"

"No kidding," Sin remarked. "Are you guys gonna fight or make out?"

The girl was taking too much after Isaac for Ted's taste. Sara, however, gave a mischievous grin. "Only if it's alright with you,"

_"What?"_ Ted stuttered, which made the other three burst into laughter. After regaining his composure, he couldn't help but grin. It felt like he was back with Dad, training seriously, and yet not taking himself too seriously. It felt like the better times.

* * *

Tommy didn't get the peace he was looking for.

It had been over two weeks since the incident in Hong Kong, and every detail remained fresh in his mind. Which was what brought him back to the Queen mansion again. The limo was out of the driveway, but the help knew who he was. They shouldn't mind him paying respects to the family. At the most, he expected to see Thea when he arrived at the passageway to the backyard. He did not expect to see...

"Sara?"

"Tommy," she replied, looking just as surprised as he felt. "Uh...hi."

"It's...been a while," he said awkwardly.

"Yeah, it has. Thanks for the flowers you sent me," Sara said. Tommy had almost forgotten about the bouquet, with everything that happened afterwards.

"Figured it was the least I could do...and I didn't want to intrude on the family time," he added. The last thing he needed was an angry Detective Lance breathing down his back. Sara gave a grin, but there was something in her eyes made it almost look...unnatural. He couldn't figure out what it was.

"So...what are you doing here?" she asked, as they started to walk.

"Long story short, I wanted to...well, talk to Oliver." Even though Oliver wasn't in the grave, it was the closest connection Tommy would ever have with his best friend again. He didn't want to party through this: every time he tried to party through something that painful, all he'd remember was feeling ten times worse the next morning. "I uh...bet that's why you're here too?"

"Pretty much," she shrugged. "Haven't really gotten the chance, with everything that's been going on,"

"Same here," he said, although that wasn't entirely true.

"I guess a-" Sara stopped mid-sentence. "Who's that?"

"Hmm?" Tommy turned to see someone walking up to the grave...to Thea. It was too far away to make out his features clearly, but he looked somewhere in his twenties.

"I have a feeling that's not Thea's boyfriend," Sara mumbled.

"I sure as hell hope not," Tommy said. He saw Thea talking to the man, then handing him a wad of cash. In return, he gave her a bag of...

"What is she doing?"

"Whatever it is, I'm ending it," Tommy answered, storming over. "Hey!"

Thea quickly put the baggie in her pocket. "Tommy?"

"What's he doing here?" he demanded, pointing to the man.

"Thea, who's this?" the man said, trying to sound innocent. The guy looked like a rat had been taught how to walk.

"Oh, don't even bother!" All three heads turned to see Sara, who looked absolutely livid. "We both saw what you gave her!"

"What the hell are you doing here?!" Thea demanded, now looking upset. "What are either of you doing here?!"

"I could ask Bozo here the same thing," Tommy replied, turning to the dealer.

"That's Donnie to you," he snarled.

"I don't care if your name is Stephanie as long as you keep the fuck away from Thea Queen," Tommy said. "Now get out of here,"

Donnie slunk off, which now meant Tommy could give his undivided attention to Thea. "Are you serious, Thea?"

"What are you two doing here? Is Sara your new bimbo, Merlyn?"

"We just happened to run into each other on the way to pay our respects!" Sara snapped. "A better question, what's in the baggie he gave you?"

"None of your damn business," Thea hissed. "You think you can just come back into my life, tell me Dad and Ollie's never coming back, and start judging me?!"

"You should be bringing flowers here, not striking a deal!" Tommy interjected.

"You're not my brother!"

"No, he's dead! That's why there's a grave here! Or have you forgotten that they have other purposes than buying your next buzz?" Sara growled. "How can you even say you loved them?"

"Screw you!"

"If you loved either of them, you wouldn't do this!"

Thea stormed up to Sara. "I think about them every day! I come here to try and feel like there's something in my life that doesn't have to be taken away from me! You don't know what it's like!"

"You think Oliver would want you to do this? Do you think about what would happen to your mom if she saw you doing this?"

"You let me hope. Hope that maybe _one of them_ could still be there, and now everything's worse again. The only person who came back is the slut who screwed my brother!"

"Enough!" Tommy knew that he had waited far too long to interrupt this fight. "Thea, this needs to stop,"

"That's rich, coming from you," she said, storming off. "It shouldn't have been you!" She called to Sara before disappearing from sight.

For a few moments, the two just stood in silence. "Well, that absolutely sucked," Tommy said, making one of the biggest understatements in history.

"She's right about one thing,"

"Huh?"

"It shouldn't have been me," Sara murmured. Tommy rubbed his eyes. "Sara-"

"I think it everyday," she interrupted. "What did I do to deserve coming back?"

"That was then, this is now," Tommy said. "I'm sure Oliver would feel the same way,"

Sara blinked. "You've grown up, Tommy,"

"Not as much as I should have," he admitted. "But I know that whatever happened while you were away, I couldn't have done it. Don't listen to what Thea said,"

"Thanks," she said, giving that same weird smile again. "Shall we say what we came here to say?"

Tommy thought for a moment. "I wish I could," she only nodded, because she knew why. She knew that it would only remind them that if Oliver could see what happened, it would break his heart. And for the first time ever, Tommy was glad that his friend wasn't alive.

* * *

Nobody had noticed Sara lurking in the shadows.

She pulled the ski-mask over her head, which still didn't feel right. Sara scolded herself for getting distracted. This was something much more important than ski masks.

The dim light only increased the dealer's resemblance to a weasel. He stood there for a few minutes, chatting with his buddies and taking the occasional swig from the bottles in paper bags. Sara's patience was disappearing as quickly as the booze. She was so distracted with how stupid these goons had to be that she didn't realize how close they were getting to her until they were about twelve feet away.

Already, things weren't going according to plan. Fortunately, there were only three others. It felt like something easy enough, so Sara stepped out of the darkness. It was the first thing that went according to plan.

Before any of the thugs had noticed her, she had taken one out and had started on the second. The booze slowed them down, made their movements sloppy. Sara felt her confidence growing with every punch. She only focused on making sure she didn't hold back. She was a bird of prey, and they were rodents trying to escape.

Suddenly, a sharp pain pierced her shoulder. She stumbled back, which allowed her to see Donnie holding a bloody switchblade in his hand. Hissing, she renewed her attack, but now the battlefield was different.

Sara was flustered and she knew it. She made stupid mistakes, and now the goons had an opening, a weak spot to exploit. And soon, one of them did by digging in her open wound with his filthy hands. Sara screamed as agony coursed through her arm. One thing was clear: she needed to get out of there.

She kicked a wall through what felt like a wall of men, running until she found a shadow to escape into. As soon as she heard them walking away, she allowed herself to breathe again.

She was furious. Furious, in pain, humiliated, weak again. How could she have been so stupid to let her guard down? Donnie should have been a moaning heap on the ground, and now he was probably laughing the whole thing off.

Her arm felt wet, whigh meant that when she saw it in the light, it would be a bloody mess. Sara was planning to go back to the gym anyway to drop out her gear. She just wasn't planning to do it with her tail between her legs.

* * *

Ted was not somebody you wanted to get mad, especially when he was sewing up your arm. It took a lot to get him angry.

"What the hell were you thinking?!"

"I was thinking that-_ah ahhhhhh!_" Sara stammered as he drove the needle into her skin.

"Wimp," Isaac said with a snort.

"Fuck you," Sara growled.

"You! Out!" Ted barked. He was too pissed off to remind Isaac of how he squealed like a stuck pig the first time he got patched up. Judging by Isaac's lack of a sarcastic retort, he knew it. "You were saying?"

"I was thinking that I could do a little civil service by taking out that piece of trash, and here we are," she mumbled angrily. "So why are you mad at me?!"

"First, I'm cleaning up the mess,"

"I thought you said it wasn't too deep,"

"Just because the juice didn't spill on the carpet doesn't mean it's not on the floor," Ted replied. "Now are you going to let me talk or not?"

She sighed in defeat. "Go on," she cringed as Ted drove the needle into her arm again.

"Second, you went off without me knowing."

"So what?" Sara blurted, getting to her feet just before Ted could pull the needle through. "That Donnie freak's giving drugs out to kids! Not just cigarettes and beer, hard stuff! The stuff that leaves people in an asylum or the morgue! You expect me to just stand around and do nothing while scum like him destroys people's lives?"

"I expect you to listen!" Ted growled. "I thought you were ready for this, and now-"

"Now, what?" Sara said, Now you're going to stop letting me out there?"

"...I'm going to wait until I calm down before I make any decisions," Ted answered. His first instinct was to say "Hell yes", but he knew that would only make things worse. The only way to stop Sara from going out without letting the SCPD know was to strap her to a gurney, which made him sick just thinking about it. "Sit down so I can finish patching you up,"

Sara sighed, but relented. She seemed completely oblivious to the needle still jammed in her tricep. "Sure,"

"Who was it, Sara?"

"I already told you,"

"No, not him. Who did he give it to?"

"What do you mean?"

Ted put the needle down. "You knew his name, which means you've seen him before. Most thugs don't give out their names to masked people trying to beat the shit out of them. Your dad is a police detective, so it wouldn't be hard to report him. But instead, you went after him in the night. The only reason you wouldn't go to the police is because he sold something to someone you know. Someone you're trying to keep out of jail. Someone you care about. So who is it?"

Sara's lips pursed shut.

"Sara, who is it?"

"I don't want to talk about it right now," she answered. Ted only nodded. Most people wouldn't want to talk about it, so he shouldn't have been surprised. He continued working in silence.

"You're all patched up. I'll take you home,"

"Thanks," Sara groaned and looked up at the ceiling. "Great. I've fought gangsters, guns, pirates, Slade, and I get beat by a guy who looks like a ferret,"

"Slade?"

"Don't ask,"

* * *

"Sara's gonna be fine, right?"

Isaac shrugged. "Eh, me and Ted've both had worse. He's just mad that she didn't listen,"

Sin snorted. "Sounds to me like he's got his head in his ass,"

"I didn't think there'd be room, with the pole stuck in there," Isaac quipped. Sin chuckled. "Nah, he's right, but he's making it way too big a deal. You gotta learn the hard way sometimes,"

"You mean there's an easy way?"

"Apparently," Isaac said with a shrug. "Tell me when you find it,"

For once, Sin was glad Sara wasn't there, but only because of her issues with Isaac. The guy wasn't that bad once you were just talking together. Even though he didn't share much about himself, Sin knew he was just like her. They had been on the streets for a while, and had almost given up hope. They were fighters, not fighters like Ted or Sara, at least in one sense. They had been fighting since they were born, fighting against the sorry excuse of a world they were forced into. They understood each other.

* * *

Ted was training tonight, so Isaac had the apartment to himself again.

Sure, it was lonely, but at least he could do whatever he wanted for a couple of hours. He had time to think to himself, and right now he had a lot to think about.

He didn't like Sara, and he didn't hide it one bit. He liked Sin, mostly because he saw himself in her. The fear, the anger, the child searching for an answer... and the sarcasm. Definitely the sarcasm. For the past two weeks, Sara had still been the dumb white girl who didn't realize how tough the real world was. She was in over her head, and tonight finally may have been enough proof for Ted. But now...now Isaac wasn't so sure.

"Man, this is nuts," Isaac said to nobody in particular. What was he doing? He and Sara were nothing alike. He walked over to the fridge to see what was good. Unfortunately, Ted hadn't filled it up in about a week. The only things left were a half-eaten Big Belly Burger and a bottle of...Bourbon. The same brand that...Isaac tried to stop himself, but seeing that logo brought him back to that night...

_The apartment reeked of booze and tobacco. It was enough to make a ten-year-old boy sick._

_"Get away from me!"_

_"This is my house, you don't tell me what to do, bitch!"_

_"You don't do a damn thing, you bastard! I work two jobs trying to make ends meet for our family while you-"_

_Dad swung his arm, and Isaac tried to turn his eyes away. He tried to run up, to grab his arm, to tell Daddy to stop, to try to help Mom. To do SOMETHING. But all he could do was watch. Watch helplessly as his mother was beaten yet again. Just like every time his father went out drinking._

_Finally, he summoned the strength to move his body, but he was afraid. His father's massive body hid Mom mostly from view, but he could see blood coming from a gash on her forehead. So instead, he ran. He ran and he never came back._

* * *

The trapdoor started rapping again.

Sin turned, expecting to see Sara come up. Instead, Isaac poked his head out of the space.

"What are you doing here?"

"Hey, Sin. Good to see you too," he replied. "I need a favor,"

"What kind of favor?" she asked, giving him a weird look.

"Why are you...wait," he rolled his eyes. "Oh come on, I thought we were past that!"

"You can never let your guard down," she countered.

"Fair enough." he said as he joined her on the ground. "Promise you'll tell nobody else about this..."

* * *

"Donnie Ewing,"

The guy turned his head. Damn, he really did look like a rodent. All he needed was a little more hair on his face. Ewing looked in the direction of the voice, but Isaac had already jumped down out of sight. His expression of panic turned into a nonchalant sneer.

"Sorry, I'm done for the night," he said. He didn't notice Isaac walk up behind him.

"I'm not," Isaac growled in a voice that he hoped was threatening. Ewing turned to him, unable to disguise his fear.

"Oh, so you're that bitch's friend? Hopefully you'll put up more of a fight,"

Isaac heard the _cling_ of the switchblade halfway through Ewing's monologue, and he was born than ready to grab the arm swinging towards him. Acting on reflexes, he pushed the swinging arm out of the way, using his free hand to deliver a sharp jab to Ewing's gut. As the opponent stumbled back, Isaac decided to play some mind games.

"I was confused why she got beaten so easily. Now I know it's because she couldn't take you seriously,"

Ewing's face twisted in rage, and he ran forward. Isaac was waiting, delivering a right cross to Kern's face. "If you had so easy with her, how easy was it to beat Fall?"

"What the hell are you-"

"Didn't you know? She's the blonde who got the drop on Fall's worm. You know, Morgan?" Isaac taunted, as he pinned the dealer on the ground.

"Morgan's not Fall, dumbass," Ewing hissed, trying to get out.

"Oh that's right, I forgot. Fall was there too. She kicked both of their asses."

Ewing stopped fidgeting. Isaac couldn't believe how much of a moron this guy was. He was drinking up everything like a sponge! "Nighty-night,"

And with that, Isaac slammed Ewing's head into the pavement, knocking him out. It made things that much easier to tie the scum's limbs together in the world's most painful yoga position. Before Isaac left, he remembered to pull a bag of crack from the guy's pockets and put it right in his hands, along with a note that read _"I sell drugs (Arrest me)"._ He could have a laugh about it later.

* * *

**Season 4 has so far been awesome. It's also added a couple of twists and turns that I really want to incorporate here.**

**I've been trying to get the Thea confrontation scene in for ages. It gave me a way for Tommy and Sara to interact again, and I wanted to show how much Sara's presence has changed things. Hearing your best friend is gone for good will bite more if you hear it from a more reliable source from a hacker. Even though he was definitely immature at this point, he knows how hard it is to lose someone close at a young age.**

**In terms of structure, this story will be a 3-act volume, with 9 chapters for each act, making this chapter the first of Act II. I hope to make this bigger and more exciting than the past nine chapters combined, not to mention more punctual ;). I can't make too many guarantees on time, especially with finals coming up, but I'll try to get the next chapter up by February. In the meantime, remember to leave a review on how you thought this chapter turned out. The fact that I got so many reviews from last time gave me the push I needed to finish this.**

_**COMING SOON****:  
**_**Chapter 11: Canary**


	12. Chapter 11: Canary

**Hey guys. ****Here are the responses to last chapters reviews:**

**-LycoX: Great to hear it. Yeah, Isaac has no idea, but you're going to see how much he doesn't know here.  
-kindleflame5: That's what I wanted to convey. Sara's good, but she's not used to fighting. She's been taught fighting, but doing it in the real world is a whole different story. In comparison to Oliver, who spent of his time away from Starling fighting for his life, Sara was able to keep safe from the_ Amazo_ crew and the passengers once they got off. As for Thea, there's no question she's struggling, but there's no doubt that Moira's bad at discipline.  
-Alex: Thank you. I'm trying to do a bit of both.  
-Rose: You're welcome.  
-guest: I agree. Nyssa's just a hard character to fit in at this point, but I think you're going to like what I have in store for her.  
-Guest: Thank you.  
-Anna: Oh geez, no. Isaac doesn't feel that way towards Sin. At most, he sees her as a little sister. He knows some of what she's going through, and he's trying to make up for their...uh...bad first meeting.  
-Guest: thanks  
-Nina: I plan on it. :)  
-Guest: Good to know people are still looking at my older chapters.  
-Liz: Like the enthusiasm  
-Guest: Hopefully this amazes you as well.  
-Guest: Awesome.  
-WinterRain36: Working on it.  
-mfmxxx: The way I put it together, Sara was found by Nyssa sometime before Reiter arrived on Lian Yu, during the time that Oliver was working for Waller in Hong Kong, so Oliver wouldn't be able to make any League connections unless he somehow maintained contact with Maseo. Tommy, on the other hand...I have special plans for Tommy...hee hee hee...**

**Speaking of reviews, I can't believe I hit over ten reviews in one chapter! Thank you guys so much for your contributions to this!**

Chapter 11: Canary

* * *

Sara's arm had finally stopped stinging.

Still, looking at the stitch in the shower felt jarring. As hellish as the _Amazo_ was, she had been spared from most physical harm. She had gotten lucky for the most part. Until now.

It felt like the danger was finally registering in her hand, how crazy her situation was. And it was forcing itself to the front of her mind. Reminding her how dangerous the big world was, and how vulnerable she was against it. Even after putting clothes on, she felt...naked. Exposed, vulnerable, humiliated. In her haze of thoughts, her foot slipped and she fell forward.

And suddenly, the ground rumbled. The shower was gone, but Sara was still drenched. The room was dim, vaster, slanted almost. And standing in front of her was...

"Ollie!" she screamed before she was swept back into the frigid China Sea.

_"Noooooo-"_

"Sara! You alright?!"

Reality snapped back into place. Sara could feel her body trembling as warm water poured down her back. What had just happened...

_Knock knock. _"Sara!"

_Dad_. "I'm fine, Daddy. Just slipped in the shower,"

"Okay, just making sure," he called back, sounding slightly uneasy.

"Thanks," she replied, turning off the faucet. Taking extra care to cover her wounded arm with the towel, she walked as fast as she could to her room.

* * *

_Somehow, Sara made it to shore._

_The cold was like needles, piercing her skin like the sharp night air filling her lungs and forcing out the water. The blackness of night was broken only by the now-faint orange glow of the _Amazo_ burning on the horizon. _

_Sara felt sick, heartbroken, robbed. Just when she had dared to hope that she'd finally go back home, that she'd see her family again, that she might be able to move on from this hell, it was taken away. She could almost feel herself hugging Laurel, telling her how sorry she was for betraying her like that._

_Now, it was in flames, just like the _Amazo. _The sub was long gone by now, along with everyone else on this damn island. Once again, she was completely alone._

_"You happy now, Slade?!" Sara yelled into the night. "I'm stuck here for the rest of my days, are you happy now?! Oliver's dead, are you hap-"_

_That's when the reality sunk in. It was a feeling worse than knowing she was stuck here alone, and would never get back. It was that the love of her life was dead. And that it had been her fault._

_She fell to her knees, lasting thirty seconds before giving in to the flood of guilt and grief. She felt her body shake as she wept bitterly. _

_"Are you happy now?" she sobbed. "Was anything worth it?"_

* * *

"Seriously?"

Isaac chuckled. "Seriously. The guy was taking it in like a scrub, it was hilarious!"

Sin snorted. "Can you imagine him trying to explain it to the cops?"

_"Yeah, I sell drugs, but it's not my fault! I got attacked by the guy who works for the girl who beat that officer!" _Isaac guessed, speaking in a falsetto that made the two of them burst out laughing. "This stays between you and me, right?"

"Whatever, man," Sin said with a shrug. "It's not like Sara'd believe me anyway. She still thinks you hate her,"

"She's half-right," Isaac admitted. "I don't trust her, but then again, I don't trust a lot of people."

"That, and she knocked you out before you even knew she was there," Sin guessed.

"Well...okay yeah, that too. The thing is...this ain't a comic book, and we're not superheroes. When I go out at night, I could die at any moment, just like Ted. She _should _understand that now after getting a knife in her arm, but most people...they'd try to get the hell out of this."

"Sara's not most people," Sin argued, a bit of tension in her voice now.

"Fair enough," Isaac said. "It could just be she had a bad night, but one bad night could be all it takes."

* * *

"_Ow ow ow-_"

"Easy there," Ted advised, throwing Sara an ice pack from the cooler. The training session had been...rough. In the past week, it felt like all the progress that he had been making with Sara had done down the drain. Her movements were sloppier, more reckless, her reaction time slower. An amateur fighter wouldn't have noticed it, but when you've been boxing for almost twenty years...things stand out a little more.

"Let's take a break,"

"I'm fine," Sara said, holding the pack to a new bruise forming on her forehead.

"That's not why I'm asking," Ted replied. "Isaac, go out for a sec,"

"You know I don't care if you two wanna make out, right?"

"Out," Ted ordered. Why did Isaac think he and Sara were...a thing?

"Yes, Mom,"

"If you behave yourself, you'll get a cookie with your snackie-poo," said Sara in a voice reminiscent of a kindergarten teacher. Ted couldn't help but snort at Isaac's brief expression of bewilderment, followed by a look that said _'I'll-get-you-for-that'._ He'd have to remember to ask Sara how to make comebacks.

"I know what's bothering you," Ted guessed as soon as Isaac slammed the door behind him. Sara's expression darkened.

"What makes you think something's bothering me?" she asked, her voice betraying her.

"When someone's in a slump, it usually means they're something on their minds. My guess would be...what happened the other night,"

"Oh, for the-"

"I've been fighting for twenty years," Ted interrupted. "Part of that fight is psychological. Your physical strength means nothing if you can't find composure."

"He's far from the worst thing I've had to deal with," Sara grumbled.

"I don't doubt that for a second," Ted countered. He remembered the list of foes she had whined about after getting her arm sewed up. "But sometimes the idiots get lucky. I don't want you coming back here until I'm sure you're ready. No offense,"

"But-"

"Just listen," Ted interrupted. "There are two things a fighter must always avoid. One, which is a mistake a lot of fighters make, is underthinking. Underestimating the opponent, not thinking through your moves, or getting too into the moment. That's what happened earlier. The second, which is less common, is overthinking. Bringing your shit into a fight, focusing on too many things at once, losing track of the priority. That's what's happening now."

"How do I fix it?"

Here came tough love. "That's your problem to fix. Until then...take a little break. Come back when you're ready,"

* * *

"What the hell is that supposed to do?"

"No clue," Sara said. "But he's right. I shouldn't be out there when I'm not thinking straight."

Sin threw down her bag of trail mix. Isaac was right, Ted could be a knucklehead. "So what?! We can't sit around waiting for Fall to find us! We-"

"I KNOW!" Sara snapped. "Sorry. To be honest, it's not just that I got my ass kicked,"

"Hey, you're my sister. You got something on your chest, let me know. I want to help," Sin offered. Sara had saved her life twice, being someone she could talk to was minimal. "Come on, let it all out,"

"I don't want to talk about it," Sara answered, her body tensing up.

"And I'm not asking," Sin said, a little more firmly. Tough love, sister. "What is it?"

Sara took a breath to compose herself, and started talking again.

"When I got stranded, I was a bitch. I only got shipwrecked because I stowed away to screw my sister's boyfriend. I loved him...I _still _love him, but so did she. My sister lost her chance to grieve: for Oliver or for me. My dad started drinking, I still smell Scotch on his breath whenever he gets home late. My mom left him: he thinks she couldn't watch his downward spiral...he doesn't know she found out what I was going to do,"

Sin figured out what she meant pretty quickly. "She didn't try to stop you?"

"I talked her into letting me go." Sara said, looking down at the floor. "I ended up ruining my family's lives. That's why it's so important that I use this chance and make things right, or at least as right as I can. What happens if I get hurt again, only I don't come back alive?"

_One bad night could be all it takes._ Isaac's words echoed in Sin's head.

_You're not helping, _she replied. "I don't want to think about that,"

"Me neither," Sara agreed. "But now I can't stop thinking about it. Can my dad handle losing me twice, only this time with a body to put in the coffin? What will happen to you if I can't stop Fall?"

"What's wrong with having something to lose? It just means we gotta fight that much harder,"

Sara didn't say anything, which made Sin worried. It was a long shot that Sara would ever share everything that happened to her while she was away. Whatever the hell happened, Sara blamed herself for most of it, and she put that much more pressure on herself to make up for it. But Sara wasn't in a position to just back out. Part of that was Sin's fault, forcing Sara to share her burdens.

"Look, you're not the same Sara that left on that boat. If you were, you wouldn't have saved me. You're strong, Sara, you don't need to be scared,"

"I wish I could believe that, it's just...this is harder than I thought it would be. I suppose it just shows that the right thing to do isn't easy. Then again, we wouldn't be in this shitty situation if it was,"

"I don't think it's that shitty," Sin replied. "I got to meet you,"

Sara offered a weak smile. "Thanks,"

* * *

_What's wrong with having something to lose? It just means we gotta fight that much harder._

Sin was right. That had been what had kept Sara going for the past month. She had something to fight for. It just must be the reality of the situation kicking in. But it didn't ease her pain, or the hate for the lying coward she saw in her reflection. Her shadow, the shallow girl she couldn't leave behind, the girl who couldn't do a damn thing.

Sara pulled up her hood before leaving the tower. Too risky to be a blonde chick roaming the streets when Fall was out for her head. For extra safety, she pulled up her jacket zipper, obscuring her face. Creaking the door open, she listened into the urban night, searching for any sign of an intruder. Peeking her head out, she looked in all directions for any threat. As soon as the coast was clear, she walked out the back entrance, doing her best to keep in the shadows.

Darkness was dangerous. It was the unknown, the unpredictable, the unclear. That made it Sara's friend. She could use its cover, keeping out of sight until she was far away from the tower or the gym, hiding her connection to either building. She had been traversing the labyrinth of alleyways for weeks. She was in complete control, until she heard footsteps running her way.

Instinctively, she plastered herself to the wall, trying to limit her visibility further. Someone ran to the fence, a woman by the looks of it. She started pounding against the gate, blind to the lock. Sara turned to see a man walking calmly behind her. She couldn't make out his features, but she definitely noticed the gun he pulled out of his jacket. Horror crept down Sara's back as she watched the man point the pistol at the woman, who was now trying to climb the gate. Stuffing her fist in her mouth was all she could do to stop herself from screaming.

A single silenced shot emitted, and the woman fell from the fence. The victim scrambled to her feet, backing up to the gate. Sara didn't see blood...a warning shot maybe?

The man raised the gun again, and Sara glanced at the woman. Her hand was in her coat pocket...reaching for her phone.

_"Damélo. ¡Ahora!"_

The woman whimpered in horror. The man changed his stance, like he was throwing his arms up in frustration.

"Call the cops, and I shoot you. Give me the phone,"

Sara scanned her surroundings: so far, neither of them had seen her. There was only one opportunity: when the woman threw her phone over. A second off, and an innocent woman would have a bullet in her head. She got into a stance.

The woman pulled out her phone...

_What if you're off? _Her subconscious warned her. _Either you die or she dies._

She started to throw it...

_If I don't do something, who knows what he'll do to her?_

_Who knows what he'll do to you? Stay out of sight!_

The man reached out his hand to catch the phone...

Sara pounced, tackling him with an outreached arm to knock the gun out of his hand. They crumbled to the ground, and Sara grabbed the thug's arms, buying herself a few seconds of time.

"Run!" she yelled. The woman didn't hesitate.

Unfortunately, the man was about twice Sara's size. He threw her off of him and got to his feet. He raised a foot to stomp on her, but Sara used her foot to hook his other leg, sending him back down with her.

Jumping to her feet, she saw the gun in the corner of her eye. She kicked it away before her opponent could reach for it again, kicking him in the jaw for good measure. The man cursed, rising to his feet and throwing a punch that caught Sara in the windpipe. Gasping for breath, she barely had time to block his next blow.

Sara stopped thinking, stopped keeping track. All that mattered was defending herself, buying the woman enough time to get far far away. She took every opening she saw, as few as there were. This guy was good.

Finally, she took a chance. She punched him in the gut. As he keeled over and stumbled back, she pounced onto the fence, jumping to the other side and bolting.

_"¡Bruja!" _The man yelled, but Sara didn't dare look back. A gunshot ripped through the night, causing her to duck.

"Oi! You alright?"

"It's us, don't worry!"

Sara turned around. Two men had taken on the thug, one of whom was wearing bronze knuckles. And she knew their voices.

"I'm fine! There's a woman he was after, did she-"

"She's safe! Called the cops though, we gotta split!" Ted yelled, knocking the man out. "Come on!"

Sara ran back to the fence, climbing over and sprinting after the two. She had just made it into the open passenger door when a flash of red turned around the corner.

"Get in!" Isaac yelled. "Hurry!"

She slammed the door behind her, and Isaac sped off into the night.

* * *

"Lost em, man," Isaac finally said. Ted's body relaxed, like the air being let out of a balloon.

"Thanks you two," Sara muttered. "Sorry that I nearly got caught,"

"Are you kidding?!" Ted yelled, making Sara and Isaac jump. "That was incredible!"

Isaac snorted. "We saw the whole thing. Gotta hand it to you, it's not everyday you go head-to-head with a Culebra like that,"

Sara looked like she had been told the world is made out of Pringles. "Culebra? As in, the gang Culebras?"

_"Las Culebras, si,_" Ted replied. "The serpent pattern on their gloves, a clear giveaway. You beat us to the chase. That's what I was looking for! That's what you needed to do!"

The shocked expression turned into relief. "Holy shi-"

"I know, right?" Ted blurted, the expression of a child on his face.

"Easy, Grant," Isaac replied. He didn't think it was that huge of a deal. "Anyway, congrats. You better keep that up,"

"Thanks," Sara deadpanned. "Could you at least try not to give backhanded compliments?"

_More like backhanded insults, _Isaac thought, but Sara would never hear that. He was impressed, but hey. After all, which was the one-time thing, the failure or the success? "I could try,"

"No! Try not!" Ted blurted out. "Do, or do not. There is no try,"

The other two in the car stared at him. "What? I watched Star Wars,"

"Pretty sure Kermit the Frog never said that though,"

* * *

_Sara had given up watching the shore. She couldn't bring herself to hope anymore._

_It didn't bother her anymore that she'd die on this island. This was probably her comeuppance. She deserved this: betraying her sister, then her lover, manipulating others to their deaths... _

_"Ta-er al-Sahar,"_

_It was a voice Sara had never heard before. It was a woman's, but deep and rich, like the strings of a violin. Somehow it made her feel at peace. The source of the voice soon came into view. The woman's face was hidden by a veil, obscuring everything but her dark eyes. Something silver gleamed on her thigh...a sword. Sara wanted to run, but the most she could manage was scramble on the ground._

_"Come," the woman said, extending a gloved hand. "I will bring you to shore,"_

_Sara blinked. This couldn't be real. "What?"_

_"Come," the woman repeated. "I will bring you home,"_

_"W-who are you? Why are you helping me?"_

_"You will learn when the time is right. I will watch over you until you return safely. Do you want to make things right?"_

_Sara thought for a moment. Part of her screamed to just die. This couldn't be real, and even if it was, this would be a repeat of Ivo._

"Do you want to make things right?"

_Like that could ever happen. She couldn't undo her betrayal, let alone bring Oliver back. Laurel would never forgive her._

_But then again, she had nothing. And that meant she had nothing to lose._

_She grabbed the woman's hand, and rose to her feet. For months to come, that would be all she remembered before waking up in Hong Kong._

* * *

**Sorry it took so long to get this out, but a lot of things have been going on. For one, my hard drive crashed, so I've been very limited in my options to get this story actually written. Like a fair deal of people, I was beyond pissed at the writers killing off Laurel, especially since they just HAD to cram Olicity in there somehow. It honestly put me off the show for awhile and from writing this, but I decided that this story would be my way to create a better version of the story that panned out. In doing so, I want to make sure that this feels like an alternate universe, with significant changes instead of just adding another character into a copy-and-paste plot line. Unfortunately, I also came down with a MAJOR case of writer's block, so it took me awhile to finally get this damn thing written.**

**In other news, I'm happy to say that we've reached the 1 year anniversary of this story! Let me know what you think, as well as your thoughts on this chapter.**

**COMING SOON:  
****Chapter 12: Wildcat**


	13. Chapter 12: The Edge

**Hey guys. Here are the responses to last chapter's reviews:  
**

**-Guest: Not quite what you meant, but I will say that he turns out differently.  
-WinterRain36: I know what you're thinking, and the answer is not yet. Right now, Sara is someone else's sidekick. She's still got a lot to learn before she's ready to take that step.  
-Guest: Yes, Oliver is still alive. The only thing that's changed so far in this new timeline are Sara's arrival and the resulting changes in Starling City. Oliver hasn't changed yet since he hasn't had any meaningful changes in his interactions...yet. **

**I know it's been a while, but I've been busy and dealing with writer's block. It took me a while to come up with this chapter, but I finally made something that I'm proud of.  
**

**Warning: This chapter is not for the weak of heart.**

* * *

Chapter 12: The Edge

* * *

_"Get away from me!"_

_"This is my house, you don't tell me what to do, bitch!"_

_"You don't do a damn thing, you bastard! I work two jobs trying to make ends meet for our family while you-"_

"Isaac?"

Thankfully, the present came back into focus. Isaac did his best to act as if nothing happened. Judging by the looks on Ted and Sara's face, he was failing. "Yeah?"

"Do you want a beer?"

"I'm good," he sputtered, going back to his brat.

"You zoned out for a bit, are you alright?" Sin asked, not noticing Sara's confused glance.

"Yeah, just...tired,"

If only that were the whole truth. November was his least favorite time of the year. It always got ten times colder, which made the Glades feel even more like a lifeless slab of blacktop and metal. His breath in the air reminded him of tobacco smoke, the only scent worse than hard liquor. It was also the month he ran away from home, and for the past few nights he had been forced to relive the memory every time he closed his eyes. Now it was pushing out, affecting him in his conscious state as well.

* * *

_Isaac's head hurt like hell.  
_

_Getting up with a groan, he took in his surroundings. It was dark, a dim light providing all the light. Brass knuckles, sai blades, knives, and other weapons he hadn't seen before lined one wall. Facing the same wall was a desk, like what you'd see in a workshop. A loose pile of black...something was on top. _

_"How're you feeling, kid?"_

_He turned his head, and anger overwhelmed the throbbing pain. It was the guy who just knocked him out. "You!"_

_"Calm down, kid,"_

_"Where the hell am I?"_

_"I'm getting to that," the man said, pulling off his mask to reveal..._

_"Whoa, shit," Isaac breathed. "You're Wildcat!"_

_"Call me Ted," the boxer replied. "What's your name?"_

_Okay, now things were getting weird. "Uh...Isaac. Isaac Stanzler,"_

_"Nice to meet you, Isaac," Ted said. "I was hoping we could talk,"_

_"Whoa whoa whoa, hold on. Let me get this straight: a professional boxer beats the shit out of me and drags me to his secret hideout to talk. Can you see why I'm a little confused,"_

_"If I beat the shit out of you, you'd be eating through a straw," Ted warned. "I want to help you, Isaac,"  
_

_"What do you know?" Isaac growled._

_"You're angry. Pissed off at the deck life gave you. You know the world is broken, and you can't do a damn thing about it. It's eating you up, sending you down a path you don't know how dangerous it is. And all you're doing is trying to let out all this anger that's tearing you to shreds,"  
_

_Isaac wasn't sure what to say, but Ted took his silence for a yes. "I know because I'm like you. It's what I see when I look in the mirror. I know what it feels like to be alone. I can't ever understand everything about you, but I've been on the path you're on right now, and I want to help you get on the right one,"_

_"What's that supposed to mean?" Isaac replied. _

_"You can take your anger, and let it out in the right way," Ted answered. "Beat back the world, show them that you're the one who can take the punches and send them crawling for cover. Instead of a victim, be a solution,"_

_Isaac was starting to put things together. "Is that what you've been doin?"_

_"For a while," Ted admitted. "The cops can't fix this. When you live here, you can't ever put your faith in them. They're just part of a broken system, and you can't fix something with broken tools,"_

_"I'll agree with you there, they are tools," Isaac deadpanned. "So what, you're trying to be a superhero?"_

_"This ain't a comic book," Ted snapped. "A guy in tights and a cape isn't gonna fix any of our problems. I think the term you're looking for is...vigi...viga...vigilante. It's someone who takes the laws into their own hands. I can do what the law can't. I can stop things at the source. And maybe, I can give someone else hope that there's another way. That's all,"  
_

_Isaac could buy that. Ted wasn't like the cops who always talked down to him like a child. He wasn't entirely buying this guy's spiel, but maybe...just maybe...Ted understood his pain. "So...why did you bring me here?"_

_"You have a job, Isaac? A family?"_

_He hated this question. "Nah, I've been living on the streets for...I don't know how long,"_

_"I'm sorry," Ted replied. "Look, I'm not good at this sort of thing, but...I know that you still have time,"_

_"Time for what?"_

_"Time to find the right way. And maybe I can help you find it,"_

_"Are you saying I should join you?"_

_"I'm saying I could train you," Ted replied. "My gym is your gym. The street is our ring. You said I inspired you. Maybe you can be that for someone else like you,"_

_Isaac scoffed. "Inspire them how?"  
_

_"You wanna know the biggest problem with the Glades? People gave up, resigned to the rules of the world. So you know what you do? Fight back, show them that there's another way, show them that this city hasn't been forsaken yet. Try to be something! Or...you could just wait out on the streets, with no purpose and no meaning to live."_

_His first thought was to throttle this guy. His second thought was that this guy would probably throttle him instead if he tried something that stupid. How would it be any different from what he already did? What did he have to lose?  
_

* * *

"The Sleeping Beauty awakens," Tommy quipped when Laurel walked into the kitchen. "What do you want in your omelette?"

"The usual," she replied. "Glad to have a day I can finally sleep in,"

"Sleeping in? It's only ten o'clock," Tommy joked.

"Says the guy who's never worked a day in his life," Laurel retorted.

"Yeah, well 9-5 at a desk isn't my cup of tea," said Tommy. "I need some action, know what I mean?"

"I'd say you got some last night," she answered, a smirk on her face. "Dad can never find out about this,"

"Understood," Tommy said, cracking some eggs into a bowl. He had no intention of getting chewed out by Detective Lance again.

Laurel smile faded slightly. "Hey...can I ask you something?"

"Uh...sure, go ahead,"

"Last night, my mom called me and asked about trying to do something for Thanksgiving now that Sara's back."

"...and?"

"I told her I'd think about it, but I don't know what I want to do. Does she think she can just come back like nothing's happened now that Sara's back? The whole time she was back...I was just faking it for Sara's sake because I didn't want her blaming herself for what happened with my parents."

Tommy knew exactly how that felt. He remembered how he felt after his mom died. Three weeks later, Dad left: no letters, no phone calls, nothing for two years. From what he had gathered, Dinah left a few months after Sara disappeared. Tommy lost both his parents, Laurel lost her sister and her mother.

"I would have hung up if it wasn't for Sara. Dad told me she's out late most nights with no way of contacting her. Most of the times I see her, I feel like she's faking it too. Like she's hanging in there for our sake. I can't forgive my mom yet, but do I have the right to push her away from Sara? What should I say?"

Tommy didn't know what to do. If it was him, he knew that he would have told Dinah to go to hell, but he doubted that was what Laurel wanted. Then again, he didn't know what it was like to have a sister to be worried about.

"Well...uh, from what I've gathered, it sounds like you two are both faking it for each other's sakes. I mean...what's the point of having a Thanksgiving when everyone's just faking it, know what I mean?"

Laurel nodded. "Yeah."

"So...does that help?"

"A little bit," she said. "I just need to think about it a little more."

Tommy nodded. Part of him felt like sharing what happened with Thea. It had been eating him up for days, and he had no idea what to do. He was in no place to lecture Thea about not partying. But at the same time, he felt obligated to do _something_. But could he do?

_Tell her. She'll have an idea._

"Well, let's not that ruin the morning. Two eggs or three?"

_Damn it._

* * *

Isaac was hoping a jog would clear his mind.

The air was frigid, but bearable. Ted was getting ready for a match next week, which left Isaac with plenty of free time.

He steered clear of the downtown area: right now it just brought back memories: being paid to stand on a corner, trying to get the sympathy of tourists and avoiding CPS. He remembered nights where he had jumped into dumpsters, ripping open trash bags to find whatever food he could salvage. After a while, he got used to the smell, but he still tried to wash himself off in the fountain.

The neighborhood next to the Glades wasn't that much better, but at least it was a change. It felt real without being utterly depressing. And for the first part of Isaac's run, that was how it felt.

Things got worse on the way back.

"-we're gonna be _loaded!"_

"Do you want to get us caught, amigo?"

Isaac stopped running. Doing his best to still his breathing, Isaac turned towards the alleyway where he heard the conversation. It was probably nothing, but good to check.

_"Lo siento," _the first man said, much more quietly.

_"Malparido. Pues, llegarás al club las dos. ¿Comprende?"_

_"Sí."_

Isaac slipped away without either man noticing.

* * *

"Who is it tonight?" Sara asked.

"Tony Artega, drug dealer. From what we've gathered, he's been selling a variety of synthetic heroin. It's landed five kids in the hospital, one of them didn't make it,"

"Geez,"

"Anyways, we know this guy is getting his stuff from the Culebras, they're the only guys who sell this brand. They're probably trying out a new variety, so he'll be getting his stuff tonight. Once he gets it, they'll drive away, and he'll wait for thirty minutes before leave. That gives us about twenty minutes to pin this guy down,"

"Gotcha," Sara replied.

"It's 2:02 now," Isaac said, pulling into an almost full lot. "The club's on the other block."

"We wait outside until the dealers leave, then sneak inside and pummel them," Ted ordered. "Let's go,"

* * *

_"Go go go-"_

Sara sprinted inside, and Ted carefully closed the door behind them. "Alright, get into position. Sara, come with me to the office. Isaac, get into the and keep an eye out for us. The dealer's not much of a threat, but we can't risk him calling back for reinforcements,"

"Roger that,"

Isaac had the dealer all to himself.

Every ounce of his body burned with loathing at the mere sight of the dealer. This man was poisoning people, poisoning _kids_, just to put a little extra green in his pocket. The dealer didn't care about the lives he destroyed, the damage he caused, the people he hurt. He had no remorse for his victims.

Just like Isaac would have no remorse for him.

* * *

Ted had a bad feeling about this job.

"You okay?" Sara whispered.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he lied. "Alright, come with me,"

Without making a sound, they climbed up the stairs. The offices at nightclubs were almost soundproof, which meant once they were in the room, they didn't have to worry about being quiet. Sara shimmed to the side with hinges. Ted knocked on the door.

_"¿Ya?_" a voice said on the other side. The dealer opened the door to see a man in a baklava glaring back at him.

"Hello," Ted growled, experiencing some guilty pleasure at the look of panic on the man's face. Instinctively, the dealer scrambled for his gun. Big mistake. The moment he raised it to Ted's head, his arm was twisted and spun around to knock him out with his own pistol before he had a chance to scream. While he pulled the dealer to the corner of the room, Sara went over to two briefcases.

"This is it," she said. "Grab it and go?"

"Nope. We'll tie him up and call the cops. Once we-"

_Bang_.

The sound from downstairs. "You hear that?" said Sara.

"Shit..." Ted grumbled, before racing down the stairs. Ted and Sara were opening the door to the dance floor when a scream of agony froze them in their tracks.

It took a second for Ted to piece it together: that scream wasn't coming from Isaac, which could only mean one thing. Sara seemed to have recovered a half-second before him, and bolted towards the direction of the scream.

_Isaac, _Ted thought as he sprinted after her. _What the hell are you doing?_

"HEY!"

Somewhere up ahead, Sara had stopped. Twenty feet away, Ted could see Isaac kneeling over another person sprawled on the ground. The man had his hands raised in a feeble attempt to defend himself, but Isaac pushed one arm aside, lifting up his knee to catch the man's elbow before bending his forearm in the way it wasn't supposed to go. The sickening _crack _of a breaking bone was pierced by the man's screams.

"THAT'S ENOUGH!"

Isaac came no sign that he heard Ted, and proceeded to beat the man's now-exposed face.

"I SAID THAT'S ENOUGH!"

Suddenly, Sara dove at Isaac, throwing him to the side of the victim. Running on pure adrenaline, Ted ran towards the three people sprawled on the ground. Sara got up, panting furiously. Isaac was breathing heavily, but made no effort to get up.

"I think he hit his head on the way down," Sara guessed. "I'm sorry, but he would have killed him if I hadn't do-_holy fucking shit,_"

Ted turned to the victim sprawled on the ground and felt his stomach drop. He could barely make out the man's face, it was covered in so much blood. The nose was definitely broken, and there two teeth lying about a foot away from the head. One of the legs was bent the wrong way: the middle of his lower leg bent forward in Ted suspected was a compound fracture. There was the sound of ragged breathing, but to say that the man had been beaten senseless would be an understatement.

As gently as he could, Ted turned the man's head to the side, making sure that he couldn't choke on his own blood. Next, he patted the man's front pockets, finding a phone in the right one.

"Ted, look at this,"

Dreading to see anything more, Ted turned to his left to see Sara pointing to the man's hand. A green serpent was embroidered on the black leather club.

"A Culebra," Ted whispered, using every ounce of effort he could find to stop himself from panicking. To fight the Culebras was one thing. If this bastard didn't make it...well, he didn't want to think about that.

"Get our _friend _to the car and get back to the gym," Ted ordered. "I'll wait until you're out of range and call an ambulance for this guy. I'll meet you back there,"

Sara gave a simple nod, pulling up Isaac with a grunt and stumbling with him to the exit.

* * *

Things started to come back into focus.

The first thing he realized was that he wasn't in the nightclub any longer. He was...back in the gym? Pulling himself up with a groan, he looked forward to see Ted and Sara glaring at him.

_"What the FUCK were you trying to do?!"_ Ted yelled. _"How many times have I told you not to do any more than what is necessary?"_

"That was necessary!" Isaac snapped, anger returning his focus. "People are dead because of what that mother fucker did, why does he deserve any mercy?!"

_"You fucking hypocrite! You were trying to kill the son of a bitch!" _Ted screamed. _"And you would have done it if Sara hadn't done something!"_

"It's different and you know it!"

"HOW? In what way is it any different?"

"What he's doing is poisoning the city! He's ruining lives just to line his damn pockets!"

"So what, that gives you the excuse to turn him into hamburger meat?" Sara interrupted.

"Stay out of this, bitch!" Isaac snapped.

"You want me to stay out of this? Sorry Stanzler, but you lost that right after I dragged your sorry ass half a block to the car! It doesn't matter what it's for or what they did: the moment you take a life you are no less a criminal than any of those thugs!"

"I don't need your preaching! You don't know what it's like, watching people like them destroy lives!"

"You don't know a damn thing about me!"

"I know about as much as you do about me!"

"I know you're a-"

"ENOUGH!" Ted shouted, silencing both of them instantly. "Sara, get out."

"But-"

_"OUT!"_ he yelled. Sara looked furious, but she stormed out of the gym regardless.

"Don't you dare say she's right," Isaac warned.

"Right about what?" Ted replied. "Remember what I told you when I asked you to join me?"

Isaac thought for a moment. "That you could show me the right path,"

"Exactly. I can't change who I am, I was born to fight. Everything that I've been for you, I've been trying to help you take your anger and your hate at the world and turn it into something positive. To fight back against the rules of this broken world,"

"That's what I tried to do tonight,"

"If we're killing them, then we're not people trying to make a difference. We're just a very tiny gang."

"Ok, that's bullshi-"

"Isaac, listen to me. You weren't trying to kill to protect people. You were trying to kill him in cold blood. For the last year, I've been trying to get you on the right path, but tonight, I feel like I've failed. Don't prove me right."

Isaac opened his mouth to protest, but he knew Ted was right. His memories were fuzzy, and he knew it was more than just Sara slamming his head into the ground. "So...what, now?"

"Let's call it a night," Ted said, his voice barely above a whisper. "But I'll tell you this: if you _ever _cross that line and take someone's life...it's over. We're done. Pack up your shit and get the hell out of Starling."

"WHAT?"

"That's exactly what I would have done if you had managed to kill that _pendejo _tonight. You want to fight with me, than you follow my rules. Understand?"

Isaac clenched his fists. He felt like he'd been punched in the gut, betrayed by one of the only two people he trusted.

"Isaac..."

"Yes," he sighed. "I understand,"

Ted nodded, his face impossible to read. "Alright. Come on, let's go home,"

* * *

**Originally, I was going to have Isaac kill the dealer, and place it closer to the end of this fic, but I realized that it would be a missed opportunity to show how Sara's influence has changed the timeline. The timeline is different, but not necessarily better...hee hee hee...**

**Isaac is, in some ways, like Slade. He wasn't bad at first, but the road to hell is paved with good intentions. He let his anger get the better of him. That's why he killed the guy in the show, as well as why Roy was able to beat him. I think while Ted is mad as hell, the fact that Isaac didn't get to cross the line means that there is still time to re-direct him.  
**

**With Laurel and Tommy, I know it may feel a little disjointed, but I know they had a friends-with-benefits relationship for a while, so I figured it'd be a good way to tie into canon. Tommy's not the best advice giver in the world, and it's hard trying to create characters who don't think all that rationally, so it was a little bit tricky. You'll see where this comes into play next episode.**

**As always, please leave your thoughts on this chapter in the comments. Hopefully next chapter will get out sooner.**

**_COMING SOON(ISH):_  
Chapter 13: Thanks**


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